


Hot Fuzz Revisited

by Lucespes



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Akaashi is done with everyone's shit, Bipolar Disorder, Buddy Cops, Hot Fuzz!AU, M/M, Oikawa and Kuroo are best buddies, a shit ton of OCs, canon deviance (from Hot Fuzz) in later chapters, explicit/mature in later chapters, lots of swearing, slow burn(?), they're all minor characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-27
Updated: 2016-04-04
Packaged: 2018-04-28 10:50:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 49,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5087842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lucespes/pseuds/Lucespes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As a former Tokyo police officer, Akaashi Keiji finds it difficult to adapt to his new assignment in the sleepy Japanese village of Kuzutari. Not only does he miss the excitement of the big city, but he also has a well-meaning oaf (Bokuto Koutarou) for a partner. However, when a series of grizzly accidents rocks Kuzutari, Akaashi smells something rotten in the idyllic village.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Transfer

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my first published fanfiction, and it'll be based on the British cop movie Hot Fuzz (starring Simon Pegg). Obviously, instead of a simple comedy like the movie, this will be a romcom fic, so please keep that in mind. Like it's stated in the tags, there will be some deviance from the film, and there will also be some heated moments as the plot progresses. Also, this is a buddy cop story, so there will be some violence as the crime scenes are described, but I do hope that I'll keep the descriptions from scarring you. I plan on updating this weekly, but of course, if school interferes or if anything changes, I'll be sure to announce it. If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact me either in the comments or on my Tumblr, which be linked at the end of the chapter. :)
> 
> Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy your stay!

“Police Officer Akaashi Keiji. Born and schooled in Tokyo. Graduated from Tokyo University with degrees in politics and sociology. Attended the National Police Academy for training. Displayed great aptitude in field exercises, especially urban pacification and riot control. Academically excelled in theoretical coursework and final year examinations. Graduated with distinction into the National Police Agency. Quickly established an effectiveness and popularity within the community. Proceeded to improve skill base with courses in advanced driving and advanced cycling. Became heavily involved in a number of extra vocational activities. To this day holds the national record for the 100 meter dash. Received a bravery award for efforts in the resolution of Operation Crackdown. In the last 12 months has received nine special commendations. Achieved the highest arrest record for any officer in the service, and sustained three injuries in the line of duty."  
  
Sano Atsumori threw the file onto the desk, staring at Akaashi with an unreadable expression. “Hello Akaashi.”  
  
Akaashi stared back at the man, trying to understand why exactly he had been summoned. “Hello Sergeant.”  
  
“How’s your hand?”  
  
Akaashi’s eyes flickered down to his hand, which still had a nasty scar from a stab wound he had acquired on duty. “It’s still a bit stiff, sir.”  
  
The sergeant leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. A frown etched itself on his face, and he stared at Akaashi. “It can get awfully hairy out there. I’m surprised you weren’t snapped up sooner for a nice desk job. That’s what I did,” he said with a disinterested tone.  
  
“I prefer to think that my office is out on the street,” Akaashi replied levelly, making sure not to show that he was aware of the sergeant’s cool attitude.  
  
“Indeed, you do,” mused the officer, picking the file back up from off of the desk. “Your arrest record is 400% higher than any other officer. Which is why it’s high time that such skills were put to better use.” He paused, looking up into Akaashi’s eyes. “We’re making you sergeant.”  
  
Akaashi blinked a few times. “I see.”  
  
“In Kuzutari,” Sano murmured, and it was so quiet that Akaashi couldn’t hear him.  
  
“I’m sorry. Where?”  
  
This time Sano repeated himself louder. “In Kuzutari.”  
  
Akaashi frowned deeply, his eyebrows furrowing. “That’s in the country,” he protested.  
  
“Yes, isn’t it lovely?”  
  
“Isn’t there a sergeant position here in Tokyo?” Akaashi asked.  
  
“No,” came the simple reply. It looked to Akaashi as if the sergeant would have rather had been anywhere else in the world than there in the room.  
  
“Can I remain here as a regular police officer?”  
  
“No.”  
  
Akaashi felt a small surge of rage course through him, and he fought to keep his voice steady. “Do I have a choice in this?” he demanded.  
  
Sano shook his head, and for the first time since their meeting had begun, Akaashi swore that he saw the older man smile. “Nope.”  
  
“Sergeant,” he retorted, getting more upset with every passing second. “I kind of like it here.”  
  
Sano shrugged indifferently. “Well, you’ve always wanted to transfer to the country! What are you complaining about?”  
  
“In 20 years or so, yes. Not now,” Akaashi argued. “I’d like to talk to the Inspector.”  
  
The sergeant rolled his eyes. “You can speak to him, but I can promise you that he’ll tell you the exact same thing that I have.”  
  
Akaashi stared at Sano, his expression serious, and the sergeant groaned as he keyed in a number on his telephone. He called for the Inspector, Harada Joji, and then they waited for the other officer to arrive. Akaashi could tell that Sano was upset, but he doubted it matched his own discomfort with the situation. Since when were police officers forcibly promoted and relocated? Harada walked into the office, disrupting Akaashi’s train of thought, and both he and Sano saluted the inspector. “Hello, Akaashi,” he greeted amiably. Akaashi had a hard time giving him the same response. “Akaashi, we’re offering you a wonderful position with a delightful little house in a lovely little place that has won Village of the Year I don’t know how many times. It’ll be great for you.”  
  
Akaashi couldn’t help but let his mouth fall open in disbelief. “I really don’t know what to say.”  
  
  
“Yes?” Harada prompted with a smile that verged on threatening.  
  
"Yes, thank you?” Sano added.  
  
Akaashi shook his head, clenching his jaw in defiance. “No, I’m sorry. I’m going to have to-”  
  
“You want to bother the Chief Inspector with this?” Harada asked, as if he could hardly believe that Akaashi had the audacity to defy him.  
  
“Yes.”  
  
Harada tensed, and he punched in the numbers on the telephone to page the Chief Inspector. While Harada talked with the Chief Inspector and explained the situation, Sano simply glared daggers at Akaashi, who glared back. The time it took for the Chief Inspector to arrive was less than what it had taken Harada, and Akaashi wondered if he had been _expecting_ Akaashi to refuse the promotion.  
  
“Hello, Akaashi.”  
  
The three officers stood up, but the Chief Inspector quickly shook his head. “Keep your seats. Now, Akaashi, I know what you’re going to say, but the fact is: you’ve been making us all look bad.”  
  
Akaashi’s eyes widened at the absurd words that left the Chief Inspector’s mouth. “I’m sorry, sir?”  
  
The Chief Inspector shrugged. “Of course, we all appreciate your efforts, but you’ve been showing us all up. It’s all about being a team player, Akaashi. You can’t be the only one doing their job. If we let you carry on running around town, you’ll continue to be exceptional, and we can’t have that. You’ll put us out of a job.”  
  
The raven-haired police officer could hardly believe his ears. He stared at the Chief Inspector for a few minutes before becoming very angry with the whole situation. “With respect, sir,” he hissed, pushing himself to his feet. “You can’t just make people disappear.”  
  
“Yes, I can. I’m the Chief Inspector,” he replied with a nasty grin.  
  
“Well, there’s one thing you haven’t taken into account,” Akaashi spat, turning on his heel and walking towards the door. “And that’s what the team is going to make of this.”  
  
Akaashi stormed out of the office, only to be met with what looked like the whole department. They all wore large grins on their faces, and there was a giant banner hanging behind them that said “Good luck, Sergeant Akaashi!” With a grim face, Akaashi accepted his fate and pushed through the crowd, planning on going back to his apartment to collect what few possessions he had.  
  
~~~~~~  
  
After Akaashi had packed all of his clothes and his precious wisteria bonsai, he made his way to the train station, where the Chief Inspector had informed him that there was a train waiting to take him to Kuzutari that night. After hours and hours of waiting in line, Akaashi finally boarded the train, and it was just as he sat down that he realized he had a missed call on his cellphone. He put his phone to his ear and listened once the message was left by the unknown number.  
  
 _“Hello there, Akaashi. Bokuto Konosuke here, your new Inspector. I’m just calling with details of your accommodation. We’ve got you a lovely little house on Ivy Hill. We look forward to meeting you here at the station.”  
  
_ Akaashi let out a deep breath as he deleted the message, and, defeated, he put in his headphones, listening to his classical music. He stared out the window for a good fifteen minutes, holding his wisteria to his chest until he finally let his eyes close. It was well into the evening, so it was hardly a surprise when Akaashi felt himself drift off into a troubled sleep, plagued with small nightmares about the old police station in Tokyo and the new station he faced in the small, country town of Kuzutari.  
  
~~~~~~  
  
When Akaashi finally arrived in Kuzutari, he had received another phone call that he had missed due to his small hour-long nap. He recognized the number as the Kuzutari Inspector’s, and he put it up to his ear to listen.  
  
 _“Akaashi, it’s Konosuke again. Listen, about your house… It’s not ready-”  
  
_ Akaashi deleted the message immediately and locked his phone, staring down at the black screen in disbelief. It seemed as though everything in the world was against him. Clenching his fists angrily, Akaashi bit the bullet and decided that the only sensible thing to do would be to check into a hotel and live there until his house became available. After walking through the town for a good ten minutes - the town was small enough that he didn’t have to walk very far to find what he was looking for - he walked into the warm lobby of the local hotel. There was an older man sitting in one of the chairs that surrounding the fireplace, but he was sound asleep, so Akaashi decided to pay him no attention. Instead, he went to the desk, where an old lady sat doing a crossword.  
  
“I was hoping to check in,” he said to her, and he let out a soft, aggravated sigh when she didn’t look up from her paper.  
  
“Check in? But you’ve always been here.”  
  
Akaashi’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion at the lady’s words, and he narrowed his eyes. “Excuse me?”  
  
The lady looked up, peering at him from behind thick glasses. “Oh! I’m sorry. I thought you were my husband. You must be Sergeant Akaashi,” she greeted with a smile. When Akaashi simply nodded in response, she continued. “I’m Nonaka Natsuko. I trust you had a pleasant trip. Fascist.”  
  
Akaashi once again stared at the woman in disbelief. “I beg your pardon?”  
  
“‘System of government characterized by extreme dictatorship’. Seven across,” she explained, and Akaashi looked down at her crossword puzzle skeptically.  
  
“Oh, I see. It’s actually ‘fascism’,” he corrected, looking at her curiously.  
  
Natsuko looked up at him with a wide grin. “Fascism. Wonderful. Now, you can go to the Castle Suite. My husband Arata will escort you up there.”  
  
Akaashi looked over his shoulder at the sleeping man for a moment before returning his gaze back to the old woman. “Well, actually, I could probably make my own way up,” he said, and he looked down at her crossword once more. “Hag.”  
  
“I beg your pardon?” Natsuko asked, narrowing her eyes at Akaashi.  
  
“‘Evil, old woman considered frightful or ugly’. It’s 12 down,” he explained, and with that, he turned and went to his room.  
  
When he pushed open the door to the room, he was severely underwhelmed, which was hardly a surprise given the rest of the hotel. There was a simple bed with plain white sheets, a bare bedside table, and a large black wardrobe. Other than those three pieces of furniture, there was absolutely nothing in the room. The white walls were completely bare, and the single window in the room had curtains that mirrored the sheets on the bed so exactly that Akaashi found himself wondering if the curtains were actually sheets that had been hung up last minute. Out of curiosity, Akaashi made his way over to the closed window, and he opened the curtains to see what kind of a view he would possess. Not surprisingly, there wasn’t even a view at all. All that Akaashi was met with was the brick building in the lot next to the hotel, and Akaashi let out an annoyed sigh. So far, Kuzutari was severely depressing.  
  
Akaashi threw his suitcase onto the bed, and he placed his bonsai on the bedside table. He pulled his phone from his pocket and checked the time, and he let out a small grunt when he saw that it wasn’t late enough for him to go to sleep. Deciding that there was no use staying in the dreadfully boring hotel room, Akaashi left the room, remembering a bar that he had passed in his adventure to find the hotel. Akaashi didn’t drink, but he figured he could at least go and do something to occupy himself until he was able to go to bed. And, since he didn’t technically start until the next day, he knew that he couldn’t patrol anywhere. _What a terrible first night_ , he thought glumly.  
  
As he walked down the street towards the bar, Akaashi was surprised to see very few people. He took into account the time, but he had still been expecting a few more people to be occupying the streets of Kuzutari. _Is the town really that small?_ he wondered incredulously. The walk to the bar was a short one, and Akaashi found himself pushing the bar doors open within a few minutes of departing from the hotel.  
  
“Welcome, sir!” cried the bartender, and Akaashi had to force himself not to flinch at the man’s loud voice.  
  
He walked up the bar, sitting himself down next to the only other man sitting at the bar. The tables around the bar were all filled up, so it wasn’t as if Akaashi would have had much of a choice. “Do you serve Cheerio here?” he asked, staring at the man curiously.  
  
“Certainly,” the man said, and he fetched Akaashi’s drink. “Now, you wouldn’t be the new policeman, by any chance?”  
  
“Police officer,” Akaashi corrected. “My name is Akaashi Keiji.”  
  
A woman came up behind the bartender, her smile from ear to ear. The man wrapped his arms around her shoulders and gave Akaashi a smile that matched the woman's perfectly. “My name is Sumida Tanyu, and this here is my wife Ruri. Welcome to Kuzutari. If there’s anything you need, just let us know.”  
  
Akaashi bowed his head slightly in gratitude. “Thank you very much. May I borrow your newspaper?” he asked, pointing to the stack of papers that sat on the bar counter a few inches from his seat.  
  
Ruri’s nose turned up in disgust, and she pushed the newspaper towards him in contempt. “It’s not ours, dear. We aren’t big fans of the local paper,” she explained. “They listed my age as 55, when I’m actually 53.”  
  
“53,” Tanyu echoed.  
  
The man beside Akaashi stirred, and he extended a hand out towards the bartender and his wife. “Another drink, please, Ruri,” he slurred, and Akaashi turned his head to look at his neighbor.  
  
The man had the brightest eyes that Akaashi had ever seen; they were a yellow-amber color, but it wasn’t only his eyes that captivated Akaashi. The man’s hair was spiked up in a shocking array of white and black, and if Akaashi hadn’t known any better, he would’ve said that the man had purposefully styled his hair to look exactly like an owl’s feathers. Yet, despite his shocking appearance, Akaashi was fairly certain that the man was the most attractive person he had ever seen. His eyes travelled down to the man’s arms, and he couldn’t help but gape at the man’s impressive biceps. Akaashi tried to speak, but no noise came out, and he simply stared until he realized with a start how utterly rude he was being. Composing himself in a split second, Akaashi turned his attention to the other customers in the bar, and he looked at them closely for the first time. The table closest to him had a few young boys, and Akaashi’s eyebrows furrowed in concern. The boys looked far younger than 20, the legal drinking age, and as Akaashi scanned the rest of the boys and girls sitting at the tables in the bar, he realized that all of them looked much too young to be drinking. Getting to his feet, Akaashi approached the nearest table, pulling out his badge and presenting it to the kids.  
  
“When’s your birthday?” he asked one of the boys, pointing at him.  
  
The boy stared at him defiantly, and he said confidently, “The 22nd of February.”  
  
Akaashi’s eyes narrowed. “What year?’  
  
“Every year.”  
  
With a growl, Akaashi grabbed the collar of the boy’s shirt and yanked him to his feet. “Get out,” he grunted, and he pushed the kid towards the door. He stared at the other kids at the table, and they all received the hint and followed after their friend.  
  
Akaashi went up to the next table, where he pointed at one of the kids. “Birthday?”  
  
“Uh…” the boy said, obviously scrambling for an appropriate answer. “Eighth of May… 1970?”  
  
“You’re 45?” Akaashi asked, obviously not impressed.  
  
When the boy nodded meekly, Akaashi clenched his jaw, which sent the boy and his friends scrambling for the door.  
  
“What’s the problem, Sergeant?” came a voice from behind him, and Akaashi turned to see the Sumidas staring at him nervously.  
  
Akaashi looked around him at the remaining minors. “It appears that a number of your customers aren’t of the legal drinking age,” he said, gesturing to a particular boy whose voice indicated that he hadn’t even hit puberty.  
  
“Well, a few of them may be a few months south of legal, but if they’re in here, it stops them from getting into trouble out there! The way we see it, it’s all for the greater good,” Tanyu explained.  
  
“The greater good,” Ruri echoed.  
  
Akaashi shrugged. “Be that as it may, the law’s the law, and they’ll have to go.” He turned his back to the owners and stared at all of the kids, who were looking at him with huge, terrified expressions. “You have five seconds to get out, or I’m arresting you all for underage drinking.”  
  
In a frenzy, all of the patrons of the bar filed out of the door, and Akaashi was more than surprised when the only people left in the bar were him, the owners, and the man with the eccentric hair. When his eyes landed on the Sumidas, he saw that they were glaring at him - both of them had their arms crossed over their chests in what Akaashi assumed was some form of a pout.  
  
“Would you like another Cheerio, _officer_?” Ruri hissed, and Akaashi, pleased that he had pissed off the bartenders, grinned back at her.  
  
“No, thank you. I’m perfectly fine,” he said cheerily, and he sat back down at the bar, finishing his first drink and reading the newspaper that he had seen earlier.  
  
Once he had finished his drink, Akaashi left the bar, coincidentally at the same time that the other man had. The other man, however, was significantly drunk, and he stumbled all the way to his car, which was parked outside of the bar. Akaashi looked at him incredulously, and he frowned deeply. “You’re not planning on driving that, are you?” he questioned in a somewhat threatening tone.  
  
The man simply sent him a stunning grin. “No, of course not,” he replied, and Akaashi rolled his eyes in response.  
  
Turning his back to the man, Akaashi decided to inspect the fountain that was on display. There was a plaque that listed over ten names, and it said that the fountain was dedicated to them for their help in keeping Kuzutari great. Akaashi’s eyes flickered to beside the plaque, where a small piece of graffiti was, but before he could get a closer look, he heard the telltale sound of a car starting, and he realized that the man from the bar had gotten into his car.  
  
Akaashi’s eyes widened as he saw the rear lights come on, and he had mere seconds to dive out of the way as the man backed up straight into the fountain, right where Akaashi had been standing. In a bout of rage, Akaashi opened the man’s car door (once he had stood up and angrily brushed himself off), and he pulled the man out of the car by his shirt.  
  
“Alright, that’s it. I’m taking you to the station,” Akaashi hissed, but a sudden thought occurred to him, and he looked around at the buildings surrounding them. “Where exactly is that?”  
  
The man drunkenly led the way down the street, and Akaashi silently cursed himself for being so dumb as to not checking where exactly the station _was_. As they walked, they came upon one of the boys from the bar. He was obviously drunk as well, for he was urinating on the side of a building. Akaashi, more than a little exasperated at how his night was progressing, stopped, grabbing the drunk man’s arm and pulling him to a stop.  
  
“Hey,” he called to the boy, who proceeded to turn around while still peeing. Akaashi grimaced, and when the boy had finished, he grabbed ahold of his shirt and tugged him along in addition to the man from the bar.  
  
By the time that Akaashi arrived at the station, he had rounded up a total of 8 kids and the older man. He walked up the man at the front desk, showing him his badge. “Sergeant Akaashi Keiji,” he greeted.  
  
“Oh,” said the man, who furrowed his eyebrows in thought. “When did you start?”  
  
“Tomorrow.”  
  
The man laughed, and he looked at the crowd of people behind Akaashi. “I see you’ve already arrested the entire village,” he joked, and he turned to the older man, who hadn’t stopped beaming at everyone and everything since they had left the bar. “You in for the night?” When the man nodded happily, he gestured over his shoulder. “Cell four is free. Go on ahead.”  
  
Akaashi frowned deeply. “Wait a moment. I need to speak to him,” he protested.  
  
“He’ll be no use until the morning,” the officer said with a shrug. “Are you really going to process all of these people?”  
  
Akaashi gave him a determined nod, and he began his paperwork on each of his arrests. He took each of the boys’ mugshots, along with all of their information, and then, since there weren’t enough cells to hold all of them, he simply called all of their parents and had them go home. He figured that their parents would judge their punishments better individually than he could. By the time that all of the paperwork was finished, it was three in the morning, and Akaashi let out a long groan. He had planned on getting up early for a morning jog before going to work, but the time made him wonder if it was a smart plan.  
  
He made his way back to the hotel after saying goodbye to the officer at the front desk, and he thought over his options for the following morning. Based on the hotel owner’s and the bartenders’ reactions to him, he was sure that everyone that he would run into would automatically know who he was, but he still needed to get to know the people in order to earn their trust and respect. Not to mention the fact that he needed to meet his fellow police officers, which would most likely happen the next day when he got to work. He wondered if one of the officers would be assigned to be his partner, and he wondered if he would be shown around the town or expected to already have enough knowledge to go immediately on patrol.  
  
When Akaashi finally changed into his pajamas and climbed into his bed, the events of that day finally weighed down on him, and he was able to fall asleep quite quickly. His dreams were plagued with demonized versions of his commanding officers back in Tokyo and of the drunk man from the bar with the stunning eyes and funny hair.


	2. The Kuzutari Police Service

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, here's the second chapter of Hot Fuzz Revisited! I finished it a day early, and since I'm doing something tomorrow, I figured I would just post it early. As always, if you have any questions or comments, please contact me via the comments section or my Tumblr, which will be linked at the end of the chapter. 
> 
> Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy your stay!

When Akaashi walked into the police station the next morning, he was more than slightly surprised to see the same man sitting at the front desk that had been there the night before. _Did he never go home?_ Akaashi wondered, but instead of voicing his confusion, he simply smiled softly at the officer.  
  
“Morning, officer,” he greeted. “Would you inform Inspector Bokuto that I’ve arrived?”  
  
“No,” came the officer’s simple reply. Akaashi was taken aback at the shift in personality the man had acquired overnight. “He’s not in yet.”  
  
Akaashi sighed, fighting the urge to roll his eyes. “Well, then, how’s the inebriate in cell four?”  
  
The man shrugged, staring at Akaashi with a very tired expression. “I don’t know. Nobody tells me nothing.”  
  
With a frown, Akaashi moved back to the holding cells where he had left the man from the bar. He slid open the window that was eye level, but to his horror, when he looked inside the cell, the room was empty. A surge of fear shot through him at the thought of losing his first arrest, and he quickly called over his shoulder, “Can somebody open this cell?”  
  
A quiet shout of “Koutarou, open cell four!” came from the other room, and within seconds, a hand had placed a set of keys in Akaashi’s hand. Too preoccupied to turn around and look at the other officer, Akaashi simply dashed forward and unlocked the door, throwing it open in a fit of panic. He scanned the room, but he was met with disappointment.  
  
“He’s gone…” Akaashi mumbled to himself.  
  
“Oh my God,” came the voice of the officer behind him. “Who’s gone?”  
  
Akaashi whirled around to face the officer, and to his surprise, he was met with the man from the bar the previous night. His spiky hair was a dead giveaway, but his bright eyes staring at Akaashi made him remember how Akaashi had felt when they had first locked eyes at the bar. When their eyes met, the man’s frown of concern turned into a bright smile, as if he couldn’t tell that Akaashi was horrified to see him.  
  
“Why are you dressed like a police officer?” he asked slowly, raking his eyes up and down the man’s body, taking in the sight of the former drunk in a police uniform.  
  
The man’s smile slowly faded, and he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “Because I am one?”  
  
Akaashi opened his mouth to respond, but he was cut short by the sound of footsteps coming down the hallway towards them. A man rounded the corner, and he smiled when his eyes landed on Akaashi and the other officer. “Sergeant Akaashi, at last. My name is Bokuto Konosuke, but, please, call me Konosuke,” he said, and he bowed his head slightly in greeting. Akaashi stared at him thoughtfully, and he was fully ready to admit that Konosuke was nothing like what he had pictured. The man had spiky hair that mirrored the amber-eyed police officer’s, though Konosuke’s was a dark grey. He also had amber eyes, and Akaashi’s eyes widened in realization. “I see you’ve already met my son, Koutarou.”  
  
Akaashi turned his attention back to the younger Bokuto, whose smile had returned. “Nice to meet you, Bokuto-san,” he mumbled to the man. Konosuke let out a hearty laugh, and he clapped his hand on Akaashi’s shoulder.  
  
“That was a lot of outlaws you rounded up last night,” he said, leading both Akaashi and Bokuto into his office down the hall.  
  
Akaashi and Bokuto stood while Konosuke sat down in his chair. “Thank you, sir,” Akaashi replied. He tried to focus on his new inspector rather than how close Bokuto was standing to him, but he was failing badly.  
  
“I admire your enthusiasm,” Konosuke continued, leaning back in his chair and kicking his feet up on the desk, “but this isn’t Tokyo.”  
  
“With respect, sir, geographical location shouldn’t factor in the application of the law,” Akaashi retorted, earning another deep laugh from Konosuke.  
  
“Statistically speaking, Kuzutari is the safest village in the country. But that doesn’t mean it requires anything less than a careful and considered approach. There’s a reason we accommodate a few minors into the bar.”  
  
Akaashi nodded his head once, recalling his conversation with the bar owners the night before. “The greater good?”  
  
Konosuke nodded proudly, like a teacher awarding his prize student. “The greater good,” he repeated. “Precisely. Your predecessor assumed that rural policing was easy. Ended up having a nervous breakdown. And Sergeant Tsuda was an exceptional officer. Truly exceptional. And he had one thing you haven’t got.”  
  
Akaashi raised an eyebrow. “And what’s that, sir?”  
  
“A great big bushy beard!” Konosuke cried, sending himself into a howling fit of laughter. Akaashi let out a small chuckle, but there was no humor behind it, and he cast his eyes aside to Bokuto, who was chuckling softly.  
  
“He’s like that. Thinks he’s the funniest man in the whole damn world. Hey hey hey, I’m your new partner, so it’s fitting that I show you around the station and get you acquainted with all of the other officers,” Bokuto said, and he turned and led Akaashi out of Konosuke’s office, leaving the older man to his laughter.  
  
Bokuto led the way down the hall to three neighboring rooms, and he opened them up one by one. “Locker room, riot room, and evidence room, in that order,” he recited, and Akaashi stared at the evidence room. It was completely bare.  
  
“Not too much evidence,” he mumbled, and Bokuto laughed softly.  
  
“Not too many crimes around here,” he noted. “It’s like Dad said. Kuzutari is the safest village in Japan. Not much goes on here, which makes our job a whole lot easier.” Akaashi scoffed but decided not to comment.  
  
From there, Bokuto took him to a small room that had the word “Detectives” printed on the wooden door. “These two can be a little tricky, so just let me talk,” he warned, and Akaashi nodded obediently.  
  
Bokuto knocked three times before opening the door to reveal two men who were leaning back in their chair and tossing a wad of paper back and forth. One man had dark, chocolate brown hair that swept out perfectly, and he had big eyes that were of the same color. The other man had hair that rivalled Bokuto’s. It was jet black and stuck out all over the back of his head, along with a small fringe that hung over the right side of his face. He had eyes that reminded Akaashi of a cat’s, and when the door opened, he and the brunet stopped their game of catch and stared at Bokuto and Akaashi intimidatingly.  
  
“Kuroo, Oikawa, this is the new Sergeant Akaashi Keiji!” Bokuto announced, smiling from ear to ear.  
  
The brunet, Oikawa, sent Akaashi a dashing smile, and he waved kindly. “Welcome the force, Sergeant,” he called.  
  
Kuroo simply smirked at him, his eyes flickering back and forth between Akaashi and Bokuto. Instead of letting him say anything, Bokuto quickly wrapped an arm around Akaashi’s shoulder and pulled him out of the room. “You know,” he said, loud enough for the two detectives to hear, “we call them the Himalayas because talking to them’s an uphill struggle.” Suddenly, a trashcan flew from the detectives’ room, nailing Bokuto straight in the forehead. “Fuck off!” he called, and he sent a smile to Akaashi while he rubbed his forehead. “Let’s go meet the others.”  
  
He took Akaashi into the biggest room of the station, where four officers were lounging in their chairs. One man had short, dark brown hair with dark brown eyes. His table was directly next to the table that belonged to a man with wavy grey hair and brown eyes like chocolate. The other set of tables in the room belonged to a man with sandy brown hair and brown eyes and a lanky man with short, grey hair and green eyes. The height difference between the two latter officers was painfully obvious, even though both of the officers were sitting down, but Akaashi decided that the smartest option was to keep his mouth shut about the subject.  
  
“Hey hey hey! This is Sergeant Akaashi Keiji, our new officer! Make him feel at home!” Bokuto said to the officers, who all smiled warmly back at him. Bokuto turned to Akaashi, and he pointed out the different officers. “The one with the dark hair is Daichi, the one with the grey hair is Suga, the one with the light brown hair is Yaku, and the freakishly tall one is Lev.”  
  
Lev let out a whine at his description. “Is my height really all I am to you?” he said, crossing his long arms over his chest in a pout.  
  
Bokuto stuck his tongue out at the police officer. “Yes, yes it is. Now shut up and go back to doing whatever you were doing,” he commanded the four of them, but none of the officers seemed inclined to follow Bokuto’s orders. Bokuto turned to Akaashi, and Akaashi wondered if his face ever hurt from how much and how hard he smiled. “Well, that’s the office. My desk is over there, and yours is right next to it. Now that you’ve had a thorough tour of the office, why don’t we all go to lunch? It’ll provide an opportunity for you to get to know the other officers better.”  
  
Akaashi looked over at the other four police officers, who had all stood up and were gathering their things and getting ready to go. “I don’t see a problem with that. Should we invite the detectives as well? It wasn’t as though they were too busy to go out for lunch,” he noted.  
  
“That’s a good idea!” Bokuto praised. “Why don’t you go ask them? It’ll help you get on their good side!”  
  
Akaashi nodded obediently, and he returned to the detectives’ office. He knocked softly and opened the door, only to be met with the stares of both of the intimidating detectives. “Uh,” he began nervously. “Officer Bokuto invited all of us out to lunch, and I was coming to ask if you two wanted to tag along.”  
  
Kuroo straightened, raising an eyebrow. “Lunch, eh? Sure, we’ll come. We’ll meet you out front, Sergeant.”  
  
Taking that as his invitation to leave, Akaashi made his way back to the other officers, who were all waiting out at the front of the building. Akaashi noticed that Bokuto had a thick scarf in his hands, and before he could question the officer, Bokuto wrapped the scarf around Akaashi’s neck.  
  
“Here! It might be pretty cold today, and you probably don’t have any warm clothes with you, so take this!” Bokuto said cheerfully, and Akaashi sighed through his nose.  
  
Though he wanted more than anything to take the scarf off (he knew how ridiculous he probably looked), he also knew that taking it off would most likely upset Bokuto, and so he kept it on. “Thank you, Bokuto-san,” he mumbled.  
  
The sound of the doors opening announced the arrival of the two detectives, and Akaashi looked over to see them both staring at him and snickering to each other, most likely because of his absurd scarf. Bokuto, however, didn’t seem to notice at all. “Hey, that’s everybody! Let’s go!”  
  
As they began walking, all four of the police officers, excluding Bokuto, became completely enthralled with Akaashi, and they all surrounded him and walked next to him. “So, Akaashi,” Daichi began, “what is Kuzutari like compared to Tokyo?”  
  
“Well, for one, it’s a lot more quiet. Not to mention how much nicer the police officers are here.” Akaashi smiled softly at the brunet, who beamed proudly back at him. Akaashi heard the sound of a scoff coming from behind him, and he looked over his shoulder to see Kuroo and Oikawa rolling their eyes at him.  
  
“Well, that’s probably because there a lot fewer of us here than in Tokyo, right?” Suga asked.  
  
Akaashi simply nodded, and he followed Bokuto inside the restaurant, surprised at how close the restaurant was to the station. _It’s a small town, Keiji. You’ve got to stop thinking in Tokyo standards_ , he reprimanded himself. Bokuto sat them all down at a table, unfortunately leaving Akaashi to sit at the head of the table with the two detectives at the other end, facing him. It wasn’t as though he disliked Kuroo and Oikawa - he just had a nasty feeling that _they_ didn’t like _him_.  
  
A waitress came by and took all of their orders, and once they were all situated, Lev leaned forward, smiling happily at Akaashi. “So, Sergeant. What made you choose Kuzutari?”  
  
Akaashi jaw clenched slightly in residual anger. “It wasn’t actually my choice,” he replied.  
  
Lev nodded, deep in thought. “So it wasn’t your choice to come down here and boss us all around,” he mused. Akaashi, taken aback by the brutality of Lev’s comment, stared at the tall officer in disbelief. Yaku, who was sitting next to Lev, delivered a rather hard punch to his partner’s arm, earning him an indignant yelp from the lanky man. “Ouch, Yaku-san!”  
  
“Why do you have your stab vest on?”  
  
Akaashi’s attention moved from Yaku and Lev to the opposite end of the table, where Kuroo was staring at him with his arms crossed over his chest. “It’s a requirement,” Akaashi said softly.  
  
Oikawa scoffed. “In the city, maybe. Nobody’s going to stab you in here, Sergeant. At least, not a member of the public, anyways.” The detective chuckled slightly at his own joke, and Kuroo snickered as well.  
  
“Have you ever been stabbed, detectives?” Akaashi asked them suddenly, leaning forward to confront them.  
  
Both detectives frowned deeply. “No,” they answered in unison.  
  
“I have,” Akaashi stated simply. “And I can assure you that it’s not the slightest bit amusing.”  
  
To his right, Bokuto visibly perked up at Akaashi’s words, and the sergeant looked over at his new partner, who was looking at him in awe. “Have you seen a lot of action, Akaashi?” he asked.  
  
“I’ve experienced my fair share, yes.” Akaashi shuffled in his seat.  
  
Yaku leaned forward, an eyebrow raised. “Were you part of an armed response unit?”  
  
“Yes. For two years.”  
  
Bokuto gasped, and Akaashi looked at him curiously. “Did you shoot anybody?”  
  
“Shot someone?” Kuroo drawled. “I bet he’s killed someone.”  
  
Akaashi’s stomach clenched as old memories resurfaced in his mind, and he swallowed hard. Bokuto, however, failed to notice that anything was wrong. “No way! That’s amazing!” he cried.  
  
Akaashi’s expression was cold as he regarded the officers at the table. “It was not amazing,” he grunted. “It was extremely regrettable, but the situation left me with no choice.”  
  
“Who did you shoot?” Bokuto questioned, unfazed by Akaashi’s obvious discomfort with the conversation.  
  
“I read over Akaashi’s file when Inspector Konosuke announced that he was transferring to Kuzutari. The file said that he shot a crack head with a Kalashnikov,” Oikawa said excitedly, and Akaashi rolled his eyes.  
  
“Wow,” Bokuto replied. “Where’d you get that?”  
  
“The offender had the Kalashnikov,” Akaashi mumbled, and he chugged his drink so that he wouldn’t have to answer any more questions.  
  
“Wow. Where’d _he_ get that?”  
  
Kuroo chuckled, staring at Akaashi with his trademark smirk etched on his face. “You know, Sergeant, there are more guns in the country than in the city.”  
  
Oikawa nodded beside him. “Everyone and their mom is packing around here,” he added.  
  
Bokuto pulled his chair closer towards Akaashi, who simply stared back at him. “What’s it like being stabbed?” he asked, his eyes large with innocence. In a way, it almost made Akaashi sick that there were police officers that were so naive.  
  
“It was the single most painful experience of my life,” he deadpanned.  
  
Bokuto cocked his head, his eyebrows furrowed. “Wow. What’s the second most painful?”  
  
Suddenly, through with the intrusive and ridiculous barrage of questions he had received, Akaashi stood and laid his money to pay for his drink on the table, and he stormed out of the restaurant. The late summer breeze ruffled his hair, and Akaashi tightened the scarf that he still wore around his neck. It was a few minutes of peaceful silence before the door of the restaurant opened to reveal Daichi. Akaashi stared at the officer silently, not wanting to talk anymore.  
  
“Sorry about them. They’ve never met a policeman from the city before, so they don’t really know how to act,” Daichi apologized.  
  
“Police officer,” Akaashi mumbled under his breath. In a louder voice, he answered the officer. “It’s alright. I’m not a very social person, and I still am scheduled to attend the NWA meeting tonight, so I left to conserve what little energy I have left.” He recalled the voicemail that he had received from Konosuke that morning regarding the NWA meeting. He was definitely not looking forward to that.  
  
Daichi nodded as if he completely understood, and Akaashi silently thanked anybody who was listening for giving the Kuzutari police service at least one officer whose head wasn’t ruined. “I hate to rain on your parade, but Konosuke did want Bokuto to take you around town for a little bit before the NWA meeting,” he said, biting his lip. Akaashi knew that it wasn’t Daichi’s fault that he had to be so social in one day, but it didn’t stop him from glaring softly at the officer.  
  
“Why Bokuto?”  
  
Daichi shrugged. “Most likely because he’s Konosuke’s son. Maybe Konosuke thinks that Bokuto could learn a thing or two from you. Or maybe it’s because you two are partners, and Konosuke wants you to bond. Who really knows?”  
  
“Thank you, Daichi-san,” he replied simply. It wasn’t as though Bokuto annoyed him, which was surprising. In fact, Akaashi didn’t mind the officer’s company that much. The problem was Bokuto’s intrusive questions about his experiences, and he silently hoped that Bokuto would respect his boundaries for the rest of the afternoon.  
  
Daichi nodded, and the doors of the restaurant swung open to reveal the rest of the police officers. Daichi, who was joined by Suga, waved goodbye to Akaashi, and Kuroo, Oikawa, Lev, and Yaku all followed them as they headed back towards the police station. Akaashi was left all alone with Bokuto, who was staring at him excitedly.  
  
“Where to first, Bokuto-san?” Akaashi asked.  
  
“Well, let’s just walk around! I have some more questions I wanna ask you,” Bokuto said cheerfully, and he began walking in the opposite direction that all of the other officers had gone. “Have you ever fired two guns while jumping through the air?”  
  
Akaashi’s eyebrows furrowed as he frowned at Bokuto. “No."  
  
“Have you ever fired one gun while jumping through the air?”  
  
“No.”  
  
Bokuto let out a dejected sigh. “Have you ever been in a high speed pursuit?” he tried.  
  
“Yes,” Akaashi replied, though he immediately regretted it.  
  
“Have you ever fired a gun while in a high speed pursuit?” the taller officer asked hopefully.  
  
“No.”  
  
Bokuto stopped walking suddenly, almost causing Akaashi to run into him. “Let’s stop in the shop. I’d like some ice cream!”  
  
Without giving Akaashi a chance to refuse, Bokuto grabbed his hand and pulled him into the shop. Bokuto grabbed a small ice cream cone and took it up to the counter after Akaashi adamantly refused the sweet treat. While Bokuto was paying, Akaashi noticed a walkie talkie on the counter, and he heard it crackle to life.  
  
“Ishii, that new sergeant is in your shop. Get a look at his ass.”  
  
~~~~~~  
  
“Say, Akaashi, have you seen the movie Dirty Harry?” Bokuto asked as they walked back towards the police station.  
  
Akaashi shook his head softly. “Nope.”  
  
“Lethal Weapon?”  
  
“No.”  
  
“Die Hard?”  
  
“No.”  
  
“You’ve at least seen Bad Boys 2?” Bokuto whined, butchering the English title.  
  
“No,” Akaashi replied, frowning. “I’m not really all that interested in American action films.”  
  
Bokuto stopped walking for a second, his mouth wide open in disbelief. “You haven’t seen Bad Boys 2?”  
  
Akaashi rolled his eyes, pushing open the front door of the police station, thankful that he only had one more obligation before he could go to his hotel room and sleep. He made his way back to the locker rooms, Bokuto close at his heels. Akaashi scanned the locker and was hardly surprised to find his name etched on the locker right next to Bokuto’s.  
  
“Wow! Hell of a day!” Bokuto said cheerfully as he peeled off his shirt.  
  
Akaashi glanced over at him and stopped dead in his tracks as his eyes landed on the muscles that rippled all over Bokuto’s torso. Akaashi had noticed that Bokuto was well-built, but the shirt that the amber-eyed officer had been wearing had covered a lot. “Y-yep,” he replied shakily, trying desperately not to stare as Bokuto’s biceps tensed as he changed shirts. Thankfully, Bokuto didn’t seem to notice that Akaashi was completely and totally checking him out.  
  
“Ready for the NWA meeting?”  
  
“Yep…” Akaashi said, and he quickly changed into his band tee and skinny jeans, spraying himself with cologne to make sure that his first impression with the NWA was a good one. “Well, we should get going, Bokuto-san. I’d rather be early than late.” 

The two of them walked next to each other, their shoulders occasionally bumping into each other. Bokuto rambled on about some owl documentary he had seen in the past week, and Akaashi only half-listened, his mind wandering to how drastically different Kuzutari was from Tokyo. At one point, he became so enthralled with his own thoughts that he didn’t notice Bokuto had stopped walking, and the other officer had to grab onto his arm to get Akaashi to stop.  
  
“Akaashi, we’re here! Didn’t you hear me say that?” he questioned, and Akaashi blushed in spite of himself at being caught daydreaming.  
  
“Sorry, Bokuto-san. My thoughts were elsewhere. Sorry for not listening,” he said, bowing his head slightly.  
  
Bokuto simply beamed back at him, shrugging cheerfully. “Hey hey hey, that’s alright! A lot had happened to you today! I understand!” he cried, wrapping an arm around Akaashi’s shoulder. “Let’s go meet the NWA, and then we can get you home so that you can have a good night’s sleep.”  
  
Akaashi nodded numbly, his whole mind focused on the warmth of Bokuto’s hand on his arm, and the two of them walked into the building marked “City Hall”. Bokuto led him into a crowded room filled with around 15 other people, and Akaashi let out a soft sigh. Upon the officers’ arrival, the people in the room quieted their conversations, and all eyes fell on Bokuto and Akaashi. The loud officer was hardly fazed, however, and he simply smiled happily back at the members of the NWA.  
  
“Hello! This is Akaashi Keiji, the new sergeant of the Kuzutari police force!” he announced, and the room burst into applause.  
  
“Service,” Akaashi corrected under his breath.  
  
The people in the room arranged themselves into a line, and Bokuto led Akaashi down the line one-by-one, introducing all of the members. There was Endo Shiba, Sakai Kazu, Nonaka Arata and Natsuko (the owners of the hotel that Akaashi was staying at), the shop owner, Ishii Hisae, Morine Yasuko (“whose horticulture put Kuzutari on the map”), the local doctor - Nakehara Takechi, Sumida Ruri and Tanyu, the bar owners, and Tao Natsu.  
  
Finally, Bokuto led Akaashi to the end of the line, where a tall, lanky man stood. He beamed at Akaashi and shook his hand firmly, and something about him made Akaashi uneasy. “This is Takara Toshinobu. He’s the owner of the local supermarket,” Bokuto announced, and Akaashi stared at the taller man. He was even taller than Bokuto, at least by a few centimeters.  
  
“Pleasure to meet you, Takara-san,” Akaashi greeted, and he pulled away from the shop owner.  
  
Sakai stepped forward, clapping her hand on Akaashi’s shoulder. The sergeant winced slightly, forcing himself not to glare at the woman who was blatantly ignoring his personal space. “So, Sergeant, you any good with guns? You should come out shooting with us one of these days,” she said cheerfully, grinning from ear to ear.  
  
Akaashi frowned, shifting uncomfortably. “I haven’t held a firearm for over two years, Sakai-san, and I’m more than happy to keep it that way,” he replied.  
  
“Well, you’ll be popular with the local birds,” Sakai said with a grin, and the room erupted with laughter. Akaashi looked at Bokuto, trying to communicate to his partner that he was very uncomfortable with the situation.  
  
Bokuto shuffled closer to him, wrapping his arm around Akaashi’s shoulders. “Hey,” he said softly, turning his head so that only Akaashi could hear him. “Just stick by me. I’ll talk for you as much as I can.”  
  
Akaashi nodded his thanks and watched as the members of the NWA sat down around a circular table. Bokuto moved quickly, stunning Akaashi with the speed in his movements, and he snagged two chairs, patting one of them for Akaashi to sit in. Bokuto scooted his chair closer to Akaashi’s, and he reached over and began to rub circles into Akaashi’s back. Something about the gesture calmed Akaashi’s nerves, and the sergeant sent his partner a soft smile.  
  
“Thank you, Bokuto-san,” he said softly, and Bokuto sent him a dazzling smile in return.  
  
“It’s no problem, Akaashi! Anything to make you comfortable!”  
  
The sound of throats clearing sounded in Akaashi’s ears, and he tore his gaze away from Bokuto to look at Takara, who sat directly across from him. “Now, a quick announcement before we begin. Shoji Akoto has just given birth to twins. Congratulations to her; we’ll be keeping a keen eye on them as they grow up. Now, Endo?”  
  
The man perked up at his name, frowning as he passed around a picture. “Thanks, Takara. Now, to business, then. I’m sure many of you will have noticed the return of a blight on our streets, one which is all the more disturbing as the “Village of the Year” contest looms nearer. I speak of course or the extremely irritating Living Statue.”  
  
The picture was passed around the table, and Akaashi couldn’t help the yawn that ripped itself from his throat. It was going to be a long night.  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
“Well, you survived, Akaashi!” Bokuto grinned happily, and Akaashi was genuinely surprised that the long two hour meeting hadn’t drained any of his energy.  
  
“I couldn’t have done it without your help, you know,” Akaashi replied earnestly, and he noticed Bokuto’s cheeks redden slightly.  
  
Bokuto walked with him down the street, and Akaashi saw that there was a slight bounce in his step as he walked. “That wasn’t as bad as it usually, and look on the bright side! At least you don’t have to go again!” he said, and Akaashi watched as the hotel approached them.  
  
“Well, Bokuto-san, this is my stop. Thank you for coming to the meeting with me today. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He bowed his head slightly, reaching up and pulling the scarf from his neck. “Oh, and here’s this.”  
  
Bokuto shook his head in response. “No, no! It looks better on you anyways. Keep it!” With that, Bokuto waved farewell, and he walked off in the direction of the edge of town, leaving Akaashi alone.  
  
The sergeant stared at the scarf in his hands, wondering when the last time was that someone had given him a gift.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr || bokutotrash.tumblr.com


	3. Crime in Kuzutari

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright! I'm back~
> 
> This is the last filler chapter; things will start to pick up in the next chapter. :D
> 
> As always, if you have any questions or comments, please contact me via the comments section or my Tumblr, which will be linked at the end of the chapter.
> 
> Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy your stay!

_I must be dreaming. That knocking sound is most definitely not real_ , Akaashi thought groggily, but when the incessant noise continued, the sergeant was forced to open his eyes slowly and look over at the door to his hotel room. Instead of stopping when they didn’t get an answer, the person in the hallway that was hell-bent on disturbing Akaashi’s beauty sleep just raised the volume of their knocking. When Akaashi couldn’t handle it anymore, he let out an exasperated sigh and got to his feet, walking to the door and throwing it open. To his complete and utter surprise, he was met with a beaming Bokuto. Akaashi glanced back at his bedside table, narrowing his eyes to get a better look at the digital clock that laid on the table. _5:00. Why the hell is Bokuto at my room at 5:00 in the morning?_ Akaashi groaned to himself, and he turned back to face his partner. The man was wearing a loose black t-shirt, running pants with black leggings underneath, and running shoes, and Akaashi’s stomach dropped as he realized what exactly Bokuto was visiting for.  
  
“Good morning, Akaashi! How are you?” Bokuto asked, tilting his head to the side in a bout of innocence that made Akaashi slightly angry. _Why is he so cheerful, even at the ass crack of dawn?  
  
_ “Well, I wouldn’t know. I haven’t had much time to decide how I am. I just woke up about a minute ago,” Akaashi replied, his voice rough and gravelly from sleep.  
  
Bokuto’s eyes widened in realization, and he looked Akaashi up and down. “Oh… Oops.” A slight blush spread across Bokuto’s cheeks, and he smiled sheepishly at his partner. “I didn’t think about the fact that you might not be a morning person… I actually was just dropping by to see if you wanted to go on a run with me before we went to work.”  
  
Akaashi ran his fingers through his messy hair, sighing softly through his nose. “Why didn’t you say something about it last night?”  
  
“Well,” Bokuto chuckled softly, “I didn’t think about it until I was getting ready this morning. If you’d rather go back to sleep, I totally understand! I just figured I’d stop by and ask you.”  
  
The raven-haired sergeant stared at his partner, debating which of his options would benefit him the most. On one hand, more rest would help him survive the day and whatever it held for him. On the other hand, running with Bokuto would provide the opportunity for Akaashi to get to know his partner better, which would help them work together more easily. “Just… Wait in the lobby of the hotel, Bokuto-san. I’ll get changed and then meet you down there,” he concluded, and he watched the sunshine seep into Bokuto’s expression. Anyone else who would’ve seen the police officer’s expression would have assumed that Akaashi had just told him that he had won the lottery.  
  
“Hey, now that’s what I like to hear! Okay, Akaashi! I’ll meet you downstairs!” Bokuto cheered, and he waved goodbye before leaving in the direction of the elevator.  
  
Akaashi shut his door, and he began to rummage through his suitcase full of clothes (that he still hadn’t unpacked) for his workout clothes. Back in Tokyo, Akaashi had run every morning on his way to work, and he wondered if Bokuto had somehow known that about him or if it was a complete coincidence that he had asked to run with him that morning. Either way, Akaashi knew that deep down inside, he was honestly flattered that Bokuto had thought of inviting him. Compared to the other officers, Bokuto seemed to have warmed up to Akaashi the fastest, and the sergeant wondered what about him could have possibly enticed the amber-eyed man. _Honestly, if there’s anyone enticing, it’s Bokuto_ , he thought to himself as he changed into his running shorts and a t-shirt.  
  
Akaashi continued thinking about his new partner all the way downstairs, his mind running through the multiple possibilities of why Bokuto had become so attached to him. _I wonder if he just likes being around me because I’m from the city_ , Akaashi wondered. _I could always ask him… No, that would be rude. I’ll just stay quiet._ Akaashi walked into the lobby, and he smiled softly when Bokuto visibly perked up when he entered the room.  
  
“There you are! I was beginning to think that you had fallen asleep halfway through changing!” Bokuto said with a laugh, and he pushed open the door and led Akaashi outside. The early morning wind chilled Akaashi, and he wished that he had thought to have worn a longer sleeved shirt.  
  
“Where will we be running, Bokuto-san?” Akaashi asked.  
  
The taller man shrugged softly. “I dunno. We could just run until it gets a little closer to when we need to go to work, or we could just go on the route I usually take before work. We’d have to run to my house to start, though…” he said thoughtfully. “And it’s kind of a longer run. Would you rather start off small for our first day?”  
  
Akaashi shook his head, smiling gently at Bokuto. “You don’t have to take it easy just because I’m around. I used to run every day before work in Tokyo, so I should be fine. How long do you usually run for every day?”  
  
The raven-haired sergeant was in no way prepared for Bokuto’s answer. “Six kilometers!”  
  
Akaashi was fairly certain that his heart stopped for a few seconds. _Six kilometers? I haven’t trained for that long - my runs back in Tokyo were only four kilometers at the most…_ Still, he could see the raw hope in Bokuto’s eyes, and Akaashi knew that he didn’t have it in him to turn his partner down. “O-okay. Lead the way, then, Bokuto-san.”  
  
With a determined nod, Bokuto began jogging lightly, moving over so that Akaashi could run next to him. As they jogged down the street, they gradually increased their speed until they were running pretty fast, and they ran in the direction of Bokuto’s house on the edge of town. Akaashi was surprised at the focus that had appeared on Bokuto’s face, and he also found himself in awe of just how concentrated and absolutely _silent_ the police officer became as they ran.  
  
~~~~~~  
  
When Bokuto finally pushed open the door the police station, to say that Akaashi was winded would have been an understatement. His thighs and calves burned with the fire of a thousand suns, and he was pretty sure that his lungs had shriveled up and died long ago. Sweat had plastered the small curls of his black hair to his forehead, despite the cold temperature, but Akaashi’s bodily pain wasn’t even the worst result of his run with Bokuto.  
  
The worst part was the fact that Bokuto looked the exact same as he had when he had knocked on Akaashi’s door. His hair was still perfectly spiked, and as Akaashi stared at him in disbelief, he was absolutely certain that there wasn’t a single drop of sweat anywhere on Bokuto. He grinned at Akaashi as they made their way back to the locker room, and Akaashi couldn’t tell if he was oblivious to the fact that Akaashi’s chest was heaving or it he was just choosing to ignore it.  
  
“You did well, Akaashi! Say, should we run together everyday? It’d be fun!” Bokuto cheered, and he peeled off his shirt. Once again, Akaashi found it next to impossible to look anywhere but Bokuto’s abs.  
  
“I…” Akaashi stuttered. _Well said_ , he reprimanded himself. “I wouldn’t mind running with you everyday. As long as we aren’t ever late for work.”  
  
Bokuto nodded quickly, and he quickly finished changing. Akaashi noticed that when he was changing out of his running shorts, he moved much quicker than he had when changing his shirt. “Well, that settles it, then!” he said cheerfully, and he leaned against the lockers as Akaashi changed quickly. “I suppose today you’ll get to see just how boring it is to be a police officer in Kuzutari.”  
  
Akaashi scoffed, deciding not to tell Bokuto that he had already been bored by the small town. Bokuto and Akaashi walked to their desks, and Akaashi began organizing his desk to his liking since he hadn’t had a chance to the day before.  
  
It was a few hours before the phone rang at Akaashi’s desk, and the jarring sound nearly gave Akaashi a heart attack. He glared at Bokuto, who had dissolved into a fit of giggles, while he answered the phone. “Kuzutari police service, this is Sergeant Akaashi speaking. How may I help you?” he recited.  
  
The man on the other end of the phone sounded far away, which made it difficult for Akaashi to hear him over Bokuto’s laughter. “Hello. My name is Tanji Shigeru, and I’d like to report a missing swan.”  
  
“Okay, sir, could you describe the last place you saw the swan?”  
  
There was silence on the other line while the man thought. “Near the edge of town on my estate,” he replied, and Akaashi let out a small huff.  
  
“Alright, Tanji-san. We’ll get right on that. Thank you for calling,” Akaashi said simply, and he hung up the phone. He turned his attention to Bokuto, who had finally recovered. “C’mon, Bokuto-san. We’ve got a missing swan to locate.”  
  
Bokuto visibly perked up at the aspect of field work, and he jumped to his feet. “Hey, that’s what I’m talking about! I’m so glad you moved here, Akaashi! It’s not so boring anymore!” he cried, and when Akaashi was standing as well, Bokuto grasped his hand and pulled him outside.  
  
“Bokuto-san,” Akaashi chided, frowning softly. “Slow down. You don’t even know where we’re going.”  
  
Bokuto slid to a stop, his eyebrows furrowed in concern. “That’s a good point. Did you get an address of where the swan was last sighted?”  
  
“No. The man, Tanji-san, just said that he saw it on his estate,” Akaashi recited. “But now that I think about it… I didn’t think to ask where exactly he lives…”  
  
“It’s no problem! I know where he lives!” Bokuto beamed proudly, and he began leading Akaashi towards the direction of his house. “Tanji actually lives just down the road from me. I’ll lead the way!”  
  
Akaashi walked next to Bokuto, and he was slightly surprised that he had been able to stay in step with Bokuto, for the spiky-haired police officer was walking with a bounce in his step that caused him to walk particularly fast. “So, Bokuto-san… How long have you lived in Kuzutari?” he asked, wondering if talking would slow Bokuto down just a little.  
  
“Ah, well, I was actually born here! My mom lived here since she was little, but my dad moved from Tokyo when he finished college. Did you grow up in Tokyo?” Bokuto asked, and sure enough, he slowed down until both officers were walking at a much more leisurely pace.  
  
Akaashi nodded softly, thinking back on his childhood. “Yes, both side of my family have lived in Tokyo for many generations. Yet, it was hardly my home. I have no family remaining there, and I didn’t have anyone that I was living with or was friends with. So, when I was relocated to Kuzutari, I wasn’t that affected. I wasn’t exactly leaving much behind.”  
  
Bokuto was oddly quiet in response, and Akaashi looked over at him curious. To his surprise, the spiky-haired police officer was deep in thought, his eyebrows furrowed, and it was odd for Akaashi to see Bokuto frown so deeply. Akaashi must have stared too long, however, because Bokuto’s gaze flickered up to meet his, and immediately, Bokuto’s smile was plastered back on his face, though Akaashi didn’t miss how his smile didn’t reach his eyes that time. “Well, maybe you’ll be able to make some friends in Kuzutari. I mean, we’re already friends, wouldn’t you say?” Bokuto questioned, tilting his head to the side.  
  
“Sure. I think we’re friends, Bokuto-san,” Akaashi replied, though he wasn’t sure that he whole-heartedly believed his answer. He had only known Bokuto for about a day and a half, but Bokuto was already closer to him than anyone else had ever been. _Maybe he is your friend already. Is it so bad that you’re finally being social?_ he asked himself.  
  
“Say…” Bokuto mused. “We’re on my street now. Wanna race to Tanji’s house?”  
  
Akaashi scoffed. “I don’t even know which house is his. It wouldn’t be a very fair race, would it?”  
  
Bokuto wilted a little at Akaashi’s good point. “Oh yeah… Well, fine. We’ll have to race some other time!”  
  
Then, without another word, Bokuto’s pace picked up, and he speed-walked down the street, and Akaashi almost had to run to stay caught up with him. They finally arrived at the house of the swan owner’s, and as they approached the front door, Bokuto rang the doorbell. An old man greeted them, and Akaashi noticed the worry that plagued his expression.  
  
“Oh, thank goodness you’re here, officers. Can you please help me find my swan? I don’t know what I’ll do without her,” Tanji cried, and Akaashi suddenly became worried that the older man was going to burst into tears.  
  
Bokuto, however, was as uplifting as always, and he brought a hand to his neighbor’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Tanji. We’ll find her. Just stay positive while we search, okay?” he said soothingly, and Tanji nodded bravely.  
  
“Yes, you’re right. I have complete and utter faith in you two. Now, Koutarou-kun, you know what my swan looks like, don’t you? Or will I need to give you officers a description so that you know exactly who you’re looking for?” Tanji asked. Akaashi’s eyebrows furrowed when the man called the swan a who rather than a what, but he kept his mouth shut.  
  
“I know what she looks like. We’ll go off and start looking right now!” Bokuto cried, and with a wave to his neighbor, Bokuto grabbed Akaashi’s hand and drug him back to the street.  
  
Akaashi looked over at his partner, whose energy levels seemed to have multiple tenfold. “Why on earth are you so excited to search for a swan?” he asked.  
  
Bokuto laughed, and the sound made the corners of Akaashi’s mouth turn upwards ever so slightly. “Well, I’m not necessarily excited about _that_. I am excited to actually work a case with you, though! And I was wondering… Can we go get ice cream?”  
  
~~~~~~  
  
The next case that Akaashi and Bokuto encountered was later in the week, and Akaashi was more than ready to give up on searching for the mysterious Tanji swan for a while. He walked shoulder-to-shoulder with Bokuto as they made their way to the local bar for a drink after their shifts had ended. Akaashi was wrapped up in the scarf that Bokuto had given him, though his outfit matched much better with it this time around. Bokuto was somehow wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt, despite it being freezing outside, and his arm was wrapped around Akaashi’s shoulders.  
  
“So, anyways, then the guy runs throws down his tools, runs to the fence, and yells at the top of his lungs, ‘Your badge!! Show him your fucking badge!!’” Bokuto concluded his joke, and Akaashi burst into laughter, his eyes crinkling shut.  
  
It took a moment for Akaashi to stop laughing long enough to respond to his partner. “That was the best one I’ve ever heard,” he applauded, and Bokuto beamed brightly back at him.  
  
The two of them walked into the bar, and the Sumidas greeted them with a pleasant chorus of “Hello!” Akaashi and Bokuto sat down at the table by the window after Bokuto ordered a drink and Akaashi ordered a Cheerio.  
  
“So, Akaashi, what do you think of the other officers? I mean, you’ve had enough time to at least form somewhat of an opinion for each of them, right?” Bokuto questioned, and he took a large gulp of his drink.  
  
Akaashi pondered, thinking about his encounters with each of his fellow officers. “I’m not around them nearly as much as I’m around you…” Akaashi started, but when he saw Bokuto start to looked dejected, he quickly added, “But I guess I could say what I think of them so far. Daichi-san is very level-headed, and I think I get along the best with him. Suga-san feels to me like he’s the heart of the service, but then I look at you and I think you are, so… I think Suga is more of the motherly type. Suga cares more about the well-being of his fellow officers while you lift everyone’s morale. Yaku-san is very serious, and I think that’s very important when we have someone like Lev on the team. Lev can get slightly annoying, and his lack of a filter always catches me off guard, but he’s nice to me, at least.”  
  
Bokuto nodded, listening intently to Akaashi’s words. “And what about Kuroo and Oikawa?” he prompted.  
  
“Well, both of them, if I’m being completely honest, don’t really seem like they like me all that much. Kuroo seems cocky, and he’s always smirking at me and making sarcastic comments, but he seems like a very intelligent individual, and I respect him and his opinions for that. Oikawa, on the other hand, just seems like his strength is in his dedication. I feel like he puts a lot of effort into what he does… But at the same time, I’ve never really seen either of them go on an actual case, so I can’t really say if he’s dedicated or not. He just seems like it.”  
  
“Soo~” Bokuto cooed, leaning forward with a nasty grin on his face. Akaashi frowned in response. “Does that mean I’m your favorite?”  
  
Akaashi blushed slightly, and he wondered if the dim lighting in the bar covered it up or if Bokuto had noticed. “I don’t pick favorites, Bokuto-san. And besides, it wouldn’t be fair to say that you’re my favorite since I’m more exposed to you. I’m kind of obligated to have you be my favorite because I know you more than the other officers and my opinion of you is more solid,” Akaashi reasoned, using his hands as he spoke. Usually Akaashi wasn’t a very expressive person, but the more he was exposed to Bokuto, the more he found his austere nature slipping from him.  
  
Bokuto scoffed, brushing off Akaashi’s denial. “Nah, I’m totally your favorite. You just said all of that so that I didn’t go and brag to the others. Don’t worry, Akaashi… I’ll keep your secret,” he said, winking, and Akaashi glared back at him, though there was no real hatred behind it.  
  
Before Akaashi could make a sarcastic response, a loud crash sounded, and Akaashi and Bokuto’s attentions were ripped to the other side of the bar. Two men, both appearing to be in their twenties, were grabbing at each other and throwing punches, and it looked to Akaashi as if one of the men had thrown the other onto the counter, and that’s where the loud sound had come from. The Sumidas were huddled in a corner, staring at the men with wide eyes, and Akaashi was standing before he even realized it.  
  
“Hey,” he called, and when both men ignored him, he crossed the room and grabbed the man who was on top of the other. He gripped the man’s shirt and pulled him back with great force, tossing him over to where Bokuto was standing. Thankfully, the amber-eyed officer was a quick thinker, and he quickly restrained the man. Akaashi turned back to the man on the floor, who had been punched several times.  
  
Akaashi picked him up with one arm, pulling him to his feet, and he placed the man in handcuffs, and he realized how incredibly thankful he was that he kept his handcuffs in his back pocket at all times. He looked over at Bokuto, and silently, the two police officers made their way out of the station.  
  
“Shut your fucking mouth,” Akaashi heard Bokuto hiss to the man that he was holding, and together, they dragged the brawlers down to the station.  
  
“Put those two in cells four and five,” the sergeant at the front desk told them, and Akaashi and Bokuto nodded in unison.  
  
Once the drunken men were in their cells and locked up tight for the night, Bokuto turned to Akaashi, a small smile on his face. “Well… On the bright side,” he said, “At least now we don’t have to pay for our drinks!”  
  
~~~~~~  
  
Akaashi watched as the cars zoomed by, his eyes fixed on the speed radar in his hand. “52,” he read out in a bored tone.  
  
Bokuto, who was amiably sitting beside him eating ice cream, continued rambling on as if Akaashi hadn’t said a word. “So, then, Patrick Swayze’s robbed this bank, and Keanu Reeves chases him through people’s gardens. And then Keanu lands really badly and breaks his leg and he’s like ‘Aaaaargh!’-”  
  
“55,” Akaashi interrupted.  
  
“-and then he goes to shoot Swayze, but he can’t because he loves him so much, and he fires his gun up in the air, and he goes ‘Aaaaargh!’”  
  
Akaashi let out a long sigh at the conclusion of Bokuto’s retelling of his favorite movie scene. “48.”  
  
“Say, have you ever fired a gun and gone ‘aaaaargh!’, Akaashi?” Bokuto asked.  
  
“No, Bokuto-san, I have not.”  
  
Bokuto frowned. “Sorry… I just feel… I just feel like I’m missing out sometimes. I want to do what you do!”  
  
Akaashi tore his eyes away from his radar, frowning deeply. “You do ‘do what I do’. What on Earth do you think you’re missing out on?”  
  
The taller officer shrugged softly, staring at his hands in thought. “I don’t know. Gun fights? Proper action and shit!”  
  
“Proper policing isn’t about action,” Akaashi reprimanded. “Or shit.”  
  
“Yeah, but you’ve been able to fire a gun! How come we don’t all have guns?” Bokuto asked, pouting like a child.  
  
“Arming the entire Japanese police service wouldn’t necessarily lower the rate of crime. Guns aren’t toys, Bokuto-san. Opening fire on another human being is a difficult and dizzying experience. 45.”  
  
Bokuto nodded obediently, thinking over Akaashi’s words. Before he could respond, however, there was a roaring woosh as a car sped by, and the Akaashi’s eyes widened as he looked at the radar in his hands. Without so much as a second thought, the raven-haired officer turned on the sirens of the police car, and he sped after the speeding car. Thankfully, the speeder didn’t feel the need to run from Akaashi, so they were pulled over in little to no time. When Akaashi pulled up behind the small car, which only had two people in it, Bokuto was staring at him with eyes the size of dinner plates. Akaashi paid little attention to his partner, however, his whole attention solely rested on the speeders. He climbed out of the car, holding his small notepad in his hands.  
  
He approached the car, Bokuto right behind him, and he saw a man sitting in the driver’s seat with a much younger woman as his passenger. “Was I going a little too fast, officer?” the man innocently asked, and Akaashi forced himself not to roll his eyes.  
  
“Yes, you were, Mister…?”  
  
“Hattori Takuro, Sergeant. And this is my fellow actress Konya Rumi. You see, we’re staging a homage to Romeo and Juliet tonight, and we’re a little late for the dress rehearsal. I’m playing the eponymous hero. Romeo, not Juliet,” Hattori said with a weak laugh. Akaashi wrote down every word the man said, making sure to keep his expressions schooled and flat. He could feel Bokuto’s eyes on him, and he hoped that his partner was actually paying attention to what he was doing. “Wh-what are you writing?”  
  
Akaashi looked up from his notepad, staring at Hattori. “Everything you say. I may need to refer to it later,” he explained innocently, and he saw Hattori whiten in fear.  
  
“Now, officer, I’m a respected solicitor. There’s no need to-”  
  
Akaashi continued to write.  
  
“Stop writing. I was merely trying to explain why I might have exceeded the speed limit-”  
  
“You’re playing the male lead in a production of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and you’re late for the dress rehearsal,” Akaashi recited off of his notes. “You think this is sufficient reason to travel 70 in a 50 zone?”  
  
“Well, I-” Hattori spluttered.  
  
“To flout laws put in place to save lives,” Akaashi added in a monotonous voice.  
  
“This is preposterous!” Hattori cried, and Akaashi looked up at him for a second. The man’s face had become even whiter, and it secretly gave Akaashi a small sense of pleasure.  
  
He looked back down to his notepad, scribbling down, “pre… post… er… ous.”  
  
“I’ve never been-” Hattori began. “Stop writing!”  
  
“St… op… wri… ting…”  
  
Hattori ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath. “Look… You’re right. I apologize.”  
  
Akaashi nodded once, flipping his notepad closed, and he gave the two actors a small smile. “Alright, you two. I’ll let you off with a warning. Hurry along now,” he said, and he returned back to the car, Bokuto close behind.  
  
When they were both back in the car and Hattori had driven off, Akaashi turned to Bokuto. “Did you see what I did there?”  
  
Bokuto nodded quickly, and huge grin on his face. “Yeah! You hypnotized him!” he cried.  
  
Akaashi sighed softly and rolled his eyes. “No, Bokuto-san, I didn’t hypnotize anyone. I used this,” he explained, pulling out his notepad and showing it to the amber-eyed officer. “This is the most important piece of equipment you have. This notepad has saved my skin on many occasions. Think about using yours more often.”  
  
“I do use mine!” Bokuto protested, and he fished his own notepad out of his pocket. He flipped through the pages, showing Akaashi a small cartoon of a police officer shooting a criminal.  
  
Akaashi let out a long sigh and stared at Bokuto. “That’s just extraordinary.”  
  
“Wait till you see the other side!”  
  
~~~~~~  
  
Akaashi closed his locker, running a hand through his hair. Beside him, Bokuto was spraying himself with deodorant.  
  
“Say, Akaashi, what are you up to tonight?”  
  
Akaashi shrugged softly. “I have to water my wisteria bonsai,” he replied simply. “Why?”  
  
“I just… I dunno. I thought you might want to do something.”  
  
Akaashi looked over at Bokuto, who was staring at him with his wide eyes. “Like what?”  
  
Bokuto thought for a minute before responding. “Bar?” he asked.  
  
Akaashi led Bokuto out of the locker room, making his way to the front of the building. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Do you?”  
  
A small cough sounded behind them, and Akaashi and Bokuto turned to see the sergeant at the front desk staring at them. “A Hattori Takuro left you tickets for Romeo and Juliet tonight. Said it was to add to his apology,” the officer said, and he slid two tickets towards Akaashi.  
  
Akaashi sighed, grabbing the tickets before Bokuto could, and he stared at the desk officer. “Well, we can’t accept gifts from someone we’ve officially rebuked, so…” As he trailed off, Akaashi calmly ripped up both of the tickets, and he heard Bokuto let out a small whine at the gesture.  
  
He turned to leave once more, but a voice called out to him, and Akaashi slowly turned around once more to be met with Konosuke, who was staring at him with a giant grin. “Ah, Akaashi!” he boomed. “Glad I caught you. I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind representing us at the play tonight. I’m otherwise engaged and it’d be good to have one of our own there.”  
  
Akaashi deflated, taking the tickets from the inspector. “Of course, sir,” he mumbled, and Bokuto patted him roughly on the back.  
  
“Hey, there’s two tickets! We can go together!”  
  
~~~~~~  
  
Akaashi stared at the stage, his eyes wide with horror. Beside him, Bokuto was fast asleep, his head resting against Akaashi’s shoulder as he slept on. It was the death scene, and Akaashi hoped that the play was close to being over. He looked away from the horrible acting (the worst he had ever had the displeasure of witnessing), and he looked at Bokuto. He smiled softly to himself at how serene his partner looked, but he quickly frowned at the thought. _I mean, sure… Bokuto’s attractive and all… But you’re staring at him like you have feelings for him. You should probably stop before someone sees and questions you_ , Akaashi reprimanded himself, but he couldn’t bring himself to look up at the stage when he was much more enthralled with Bokuto. The officer was gorgeous, there was no reason for Akaashi to deny that obvious fact.  
  
Up on stage, Hattori was acting out Romeo’s death scene, his speech coming out of his mouth like a robot. The actor uncapped a bottle of “poison”, and he held it in his hand. In a ridiculously dramatic voice, he cried, “A dateless bargain to engrossing death. Here’s to my love!”  
  
Hattori drank the poison just as Konya woke up with a greatly exaggerated yawn. The two actors stared at each other in mock horror, and Konya grabbed the front of Hattori’s shirt.  
  
“Poison?!” she cried shrilly. Akaashi winced. “Drunk all and not one drop to help me after? I’ll kiss thy lips! Happly some poison doth yet hang on them.”  
  
The two actors kissed, and Akaashi grimaced at how close the two were to eating each other’s faces. After a few minutes of horribly in-depth kissing, Hattori “died”, and Konya picked up a fake gun, putting it to her head. Akaashi frowned at the historical inaccuracy, and he watched as Konya simply yelled out “BANG!”, and the stage went black.  
  
Akaashi stared in horror as the cast came back out and began to sing a horrible song, and the sudden cacophony woke Bokuto up from his deep sleep. The song ended, and the audience burst into applause, but Akaashi refrained from joining in. Bokuto looked around slowly, obviously trying to come to his senses, and Akaashi chuckled softly at his friend’s actions. Akaashi stood up, and Bokuto followed his lead, and the sergeant took him outside the theater.  
  
“Well, Bokuto-san?” Akaashi asked with a teasing tone. “What did you think of the play?”  
  
Bokuto blinked at him, a light blush spreading across his cheeks. “I… Uh… Well… I’m not really all that interested in plays. They bore me,” he admitted, and Akaashi laughed softly.  
  
“Honestly, if all of the plays here are of that quality, I have a feeling I’m going to end up disliking plays as well. The acting there was absolutely horrible. The only convincing moment of it was that kiss at the very end. Which, of course, leads me to believe that Hattori and Konya are having an affair.”  
  
Bokuto gasped at Akaashi’s assumption, and he nodded quickly. “Yeah, that makes a lot of sense! They probably are getting it on. That’s pretty gross. Hey hey, let’s get going to the afterparty! We should get some form of a reward for having to sit through that fucking hell!”  
  
Akaashi had no choice but to agree, and he let Bokuto grab his hand and pull him down the street to the local bar, where there were already many people from the play. Akaashi recognized a handful of the members of the NWA, along with a few of the police officers who were off duty, including Yaku, Lev, and the two detectives. They were all sitting down at a table talking, and Bokuto dragged Akaashi over to their table.  
  
“Hey, hey! Did you go to the play, too?” Bokuto cried to Kuroo as he plopped down in the seat next to the detective. Akaashi pulled a chair up and sat in between Oikawa and Yaku, but he chose not to say anything.  
  
Kuroo shook his head quickly, taking a large drink of his beer. “Nah, your old man said that you and your new boytoy were representing the force, so we were only invited to the party afterwards. Must’ve been ‘cause we’re the life of every party we attend,” Kuroo replied with a smirk, and Akaashi felt himself blush at the term “boytoy”.  
  
“Aw man, that’s no fair! It was terrible, but who’s surprised?” Bokuto replied, and Akaashi watched the two of them thoughtfully. _How long have those two known each other?_ Akaashi wondered.  
  
“Oi, Serious-chan, if you keep making that face, it’ll get stuck that way,” Oikawa cooed into Akaashi’s ear, and the sudden warmth on his ear made Akaashi jump in surprise.  
  
He moved his attention over to the brunet, his eyebrows furrowed. “What face?”  
  
“That one!” Oikawa cried, poking Akaashi’s forehead. “You need to lighten up and stop staring at Tetsu-chan just because he’s talking to your man.”  
  
Akaashi squeaked indignantly in response, his cheeks burning. “He’s not my man,” he protested feebly.  
  
On the other side of him, Yaku let out a soft grunt. “Oikawa, leave the poor sergeant alone. He doesn’t deserve your abuse after sitting through two hours of literal hell,” the shorter officer chastised, and Oikawa visibly deflated.  
  
“Yaku-chan, you’re so mean. I was just warning him for his own good!”  
  
Akaashi sighed and stood up, and he made eye contact with Bokuto. “I’m going to go get a drink. Would you like to come with me?” he offered, ignoring the crude gestures that both Kuroo and Oikawa were making.  
  
Bokuto brightened, and he jumped to his feet, hurrying over to Akaashi and wrapping an arm around the sergeant’s shoulders. “Yeah, let’s go get some drinks,” he replied, and Akaashi was too busy ignoring Oikawa to see the wink that Bokuto sent Kuroo over his shoulder.  
  
Bokuto led him through the dense crowd of people that were standing up, and he took them to the bar. While Bokuto ordered a beer for himself and a soda for Akaashi, the latter officer was tapped on the shoulder. He turned around to come face-to-face with Hattori and Konya, who were both drunkenly beaming at him.  
  
“So, sergeant Akaashi, how did you like the - *hic* - play?” Hattori slurred, and Akaashi grimaced at the foul smell of the man’s breath.  
  
“It was… Fine,” Akaashi lied, his eyes flickering back and forth between the two actors.  
  
Hattori extended his hand in some form of a handshake, but Akaashi didn’t return the gesture. “Thank you for attending, officer,” Konya said quietly, and Akaashi nodded softly.  
  
Bokuto returned to Akaashi’s side, passing him his soda. Behind Hattori and Konya came Takara, however, and Akaashi’s attention was immediately completely captured. The tall shopowner grinned at Akaashi, wrapping his arm around both of the actors’ shoulders.  
  
“Well, well, well,” he mused. “If it isn’t our new sergeant and his partner. Is coming to a play and its afterparty really Kuzutari Police Force’s main priority?”  
  
Akaashi sighed through his nose, trying not to grimace. “We’re here to represent Konosuke, who wasn’t able to come tonight. Believe me,” he deadpanned, “I would rather be anywhere else in the world than here.”  
  
Instead of being offended, Hattori and Konya burst into a fit of giggles, and Takara looked down at them. “Well, our showstoppers here are model citizens. Hattori here is a well-known solicitor in the town, and Konya is a member of city council. In fact…” Takara trailed off, leaning closer to the young girl. “I’m sure that if we bashed her head in, all sorts of secrets would come tumbling out.”  
  
Konya simply giggled in response, and Akaashi grimaced at her heinous laugh. He also stared at Takara, curious as to the man’s suspicious phrasing. But before he could voice any objections he had, Bokuto’s arm wrapped around Akaashi and he turned him around.  
  
“Listen, we don’t want to stay out too late tonight, alright?” Bokuto said, and Akaashi’s eyes widened slightly at Bokuto’s seriousness. “Let’s go back to our table and finish our drinks, and then I can walk you to the hotel.”  
  
Akaashi nodded numbly, and he let Bokuto guide him back to the table with the other police officers. Instead of sitting next to Oikawa again, Akaashi chose to sit in between Bokuto and Lev, across the table from the two detectives. Oikawa and Kuroo grinned at him, but he didn’t say anything in response. It was going to be a long night.  
  
~~~~~~  
  
The cold air nipped at Akaashi’s cheeks, and he wrapped his scarf a little tighter around his neck. Beside him, Bokuto seemed unaffected by the September wind, despite the fact that he was in a t-shirt at one in the morning. Despite his warning, Bokuto had elected to have multiple more drinks, until finally Akaashi had needed to drag him away from his best friend, who was also extremely hammered.  
  
“Akaashi, I think the officers like you,” Bokuto said happily, and he swayed as he walked. Akaashi watched him thoughtfully, not sure that he trusted his partner to walk home safely if he was so drunk.  
  
“Well, I hope so, Bokuto-san. If the officers like me, it will mean that our team will function better as a unit,” Akaashi replied, and he felt Bokuto wrap his arm around his shoulders for the umpteenth time that night.  
  
Bokuto walked close to Akaashi as they made their way to the hotel, and when they finally arrived, the taller police officer was reluctant to let Akaashi go. “Listen, I just want you to know that I had a lot of fun tonight, even if the play was absolute shit. You’re a really fun person to be around, and I really enjoy spending time with you. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”  
  
With a final bone-crushing hug, Bokuto left Akaashi to go up to his room. Akaashi thought about how handsome Bokuto was even when he was drunk until he realized that he had completely forgotten to water his bonsai.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr || bokutotrash.tumblr.com


	4. The "M" Word

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, I know this chapter is super late, and I'm really, really sorry for that!! School has been pretty overbearing this past week, and I didn't have a chance to complete this chapter (it took a lot longer than I had anticipated; I promise to get better at time management). I know some of you don't read the comments I get, so I'd like to bring to attention a topic that was discussed.
> 
> One of my readers pointed out that some of the dialogue in the first three chapters was taken directly from the movie script, and that took away from the exciting-ness of this fanfic. Of course, I totally understand, so I'll be making some changes as to how the rest of the story is written. There won't be as many quotes directly from the movie (though I'll still be adding in some for comedic effect), so hopefully that makes it a little more fun to read. 
> 
> As always, if you have any questions or comments, please contact me via the comments section or my Tumblr, which will be linked at the end of the chapter.
> 
> Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy your stay!

Akaashi stared at the horrible sight of the crash in front of him, his stomach threatening to empty itself all over the side of the road. Beside him, Bokuto stared in awe at the car, which had had its top completely torn off by a fallen tree. Akaashi, after a few minutes of trying to assess the situation, was forced to look away, his nausea becoming too much for him to handle. He walked over to the other police officers, who were on the other side of the road.  
  
Daichi stared at Akaashi with a look of empathy as the sergeant approached them, and Akaashi wondered if he looked just as sick as he felt. “What do you think, Akaashi? Pretty nasty accident, huh?” he asked, and Akaashi was baffled at the fact that he was trying to make small talk out of such a horrible situation.  
  
“We’re supposed to call these collisions, officer,” Akaashi mumbled in response, and his attention was momentarily distracted as Bokuto came walking up to them.  
  
“Well, it’s certainly been quite a while since we’ve been faced with something so gruesome, hasn’t it?” he said, and Akaashi was somewhat relieved to see that Bokuto, for once, wasn’t peppy. The taller officer had a somber expression as he looked back at the accident.  
  
Akaashi’s eyes followed Bokuto’s gaze, and he forced himself to look at the crash once more. Not only was the entire top of the car ripped off, but there was an obscene amount of blood splattered all over the back of the car and on the ground and road surrounding the vehicle. To make matters worse, the two bodies of the victims of the crash were still in the car, but it seemed that the tree that had separated the top half of the car had also decapitated the driver and his passenger. Akaashi’s eyes drifted over to the severed heads of Hattori and Konya, which were strewn in the road. Their face were twisted in horror, and Akaashi forced himself not to think of what sights in their last moments had led them to be so absolutely terrified.  
  
“Sergeant?” Suga’s soft voice filled Akaashi’s ears, and he whirled around to see the officer looking at him with a hopeful expression. “What do you think we should do? People use this road all the time, and we certainly don’t want news of this getting out faster than it needs to.” The other officers had dispersed and were talking amongst themselves, looking at the crime scene tentatively.  
  
Akaashi sighed through his nose, thinking the scenario through. “We should block one side of the street to control traffic, and cover up the heads on the road so that nobody can see them. Maybe we could put Lev and Yaku-san on clean-up duty, and then we can have our detectives go and look for any evidence of foul play.”  
  
At the mention of their names, Yaku and Lev approached Akaashi while Suga went to talk to Oikawa and Kuroo. “You want us to cover up all of the stuff on the road so that people driving by can’t see what happened?” Lev asked curiously. “Why can’t they see what’s happened?”  
  
Akaashi looked at Lev with a serious expression. “We don’t need any rumors spreading while we try to figure out what exactly happened here. Also, we don’t want anyone to get information about the deaths before we have a chance to formally inform people that Hattori and Konya are dead.”  
  
Yaku and Lev nodded softly and went straight to work, and Oikawa and Kuroo quickly took their place. Oikawa had his arms crossed over his chest, and Kuroo was staring at Akaashi severely. “Sergeant, Suga just told us that you want us to look for any signs of foul play. What the hell is that about?” Oikawa asked.  
  
“I just don’t think we should rule it out,” Akaashi replied evenly, looking both of the detectives in the eyes.  
  
Bokuto walked up to Akaashi, but he stayed silent once he saw the angry detectives. “Well, what the fuck makes you think that it’s even a possibility? It looks like a through-and-through car crash to me,” Kuroo said, gesturing to the car.  
  
Akaashi shrugged, looking over his shoulder at where Yaku and Lev were cleaning up the severed heads. “There’s no skid marks. The car would have had to be going around the corner at a considerable speed in order for the blunt trunk of a tree to be able to rip the top of the car, and their heads, clean off. If they had been going fast, they would’ve thought to apply the brakes once they started swerving off the road, don’t you think?” he pointed out calmly.  
  
Oikawa rolled his eyes, and Kuroo scoffed softly. “Hattori sped everywhere he went,” Oikawa argued. “And it’s a corner! Who applies their brakes on a corner?”  
  
The raven-haired sergeant stared at the detectives in horror. “Y-you’re supposed to slow down when you turn a corner! Otherwise things like this happen!”  
  
Kuroo’s eyes widened, and Akaashi took a step back in surprise. “Aha! So you admit that they wouldn’t have crashed if Hattori had used his brakes. If he had used his brakes, there also would have been skid marks, so we know that there was no application of the brakes at all during any of this incident. That means that just because there’s skid marks doesn’t mean that any foul play was involved,” he said triumphantly, grinning almost evilly.  
  
Akaashi stared at Kuroo, defeated. Kuroo had a solid argument, and Akaashi couldn’t argue with him. In a bout of fury, Akaashi turned and stalked off, grabbing Bokuto’s arm as he passed his partner and pulling him to their car. Once Akaashi was seated and the doors were shut, he grabbed the steering wheel tight in his hands and drove off. Bokuto stared at him with wide eyes.  
  
“Akaashi, what’s wrong? Why are you acting like that?”  
  
Akaashi glanced at the amber-eyed officer, a harsh glare etched on his face. “What do you think?” he spat, and he watched Bokuto flinch at his harsh tone. Immediately, Akaashi regretted acting so childishly just because he had been proven wrong, and his facial expressions softened. “Sorry, Bokuto-san. I just feel like there’s more to that crime scene than meets the eye, but I have no idea how to prove it. And besides, I don’t even know what exactly is wrong with it.”  
  
Bokuto smiled softly and nodded. “It did seem a little weird, but I’m sure it was just an accident. We just need to slow down and look at it later when we’re not so fired up,” he said, and Akaashi was surprised that Bokuto’s words had such a calming effect.  
  
“You’re right. Let’s just go get some paperwork done over lunch, and then we can talk to the rest of the officers when they get back to the station. How does that sound?” Akaashi asked, smiling softly.  
  
Bokuto cheered in response, and he kicked his feet up onto the dashboard of the car, ignoring Akaashi small grunt of protest. “You know, Kuroo wasn’t trying to personally attack you earlier when he was arguing with you. It’s just that not much happens around here, so none of the officers or detectives in Kuzutari are very used to the possibility of anything more than accidents. And same goes for Oikawa. They’re kinda lazy, too, so that’s also definitely a factor in them not wanting to do anything,” he spoke, and Akaashi nodded softly in response.  
  
They continued driving, Bokuto recounting a story in which he and Kuroo single-handedly pranked the entire town by convincing them that National Give-A-Cop-Free-Food Day was real. By the time that they arrived at a restaurant, Akaashi had heard three different stories about the detective and his wild side, though a part of Akaashi wasn’t convinced that Kuroo was such an absolute _idiot.  
  
_ “Bokuto-san,” Akaashi interrupted as the made their way into the building. “How long have you and Kuroo-san been dating?”  
  
Bokuto’s eyes widened in surprise, and he suddenly burst into a fit of laughter. Akaashi, confused out of his mind, simply stared, waiting patiently for an answer. When Bokuto finally composed himself enough to form an answer, he wiped the tears out of his eyes as he spoke. “Kuroo and I aren’t dating. We’ve been good friends since we were kids,” he explained, and Akaashi felt a blush spread across his cheeks at his incorrect assumption.  
  
“Oh. I apologize,” he muttered, and they were sat at a table. Once they had both ordered drinks and their lunches, Akaashi leaned forward, staring at Bokuto seriously. “Bokuto-san, we have to talk about this case. We have to prove that it wasn’t just an collision.”  
  
Bokuto rested his head in the palm of his hand, and he frowned thoughtfully. “Say… Why can’t we call them accidents anymore?”  
  
“Because ‘accident’ implies that there’s nobody to blame.”  
  
Bokuto’s eyes widened in shock, and he nodded mutely. “Okay. So what else makes you think foul play was involved besides the lack of skid marks?”  
  
Akaashi closed his eyes, picturing the crime scene, and he spoke with his eyes screwed shut. “The car roof was ripped off, and the metal had ragged edges because the object that severed the car was blunt, yet… both of the victims’ heads were cut cleanly off. If it really was the tree that took their heads off, why weren’t their injuries mirror images of what happened to the car?” When he finished, he opened his eyes again, staring at Bokuto as he awaited a response.  
  
A clamor of noise pulled both of the police officers’ attentions away from each other, and they turned their heads to see Takara, the shopowner, passing them to sit at the bar. “Ah, officers! Discussing the murders of Hattori and Konya, are we?”  
  
Akaashi’s eyebrows immediately furrowed, and he frowned deeply at the tall man. “How did you know about that? No official report has been released, and the names of the victims are only known by the members of the police service,” he countered quickly.  
  
Takara responded with a level expression, shrugging nonchalantly. “It’s a small town. When word gets out, it travels fast. You aren’t in Tokyo anymore, Sergeant.” With the tip of his hat, the shady man dismissed himself, and Akaashi turned back to Bokuto, his frown still heavy.  
  
“That was suspicious…” he muttered, and Bokuto nodded his head slightly.  
  
“Now that I think about this all, I think you’re right. I think something fishy is going on, but there’s really no way for us to prove anything since we don’t have enough solid evidence to convict somebody. Hey, maybe we could do some research at the police station?” Bokuto asked, and his face lit up as their food was speedily brought to them.  
  
“Bokuto-san, I think the world may be ending,” Akaashi said in his most serious voice.  
  
His partner stared at him with wide eyes, his mouth slightly agape. “What?! Why?!”  
  
Akaashi smirked, chuckling softly. “You actually want to do work. It’s a sign of the apocalypse.”  
  
Bokuto threw a fry at Akaashi, narrowing his eyes playfully. “Oi, shut up.”  
  
~~~~~~  
  
 _Hattori shut the door of his dressing room, pulling his jacket off and laying on the chair in front of his mirror. The performance had absolutely wiped him out, and after the afterparty, it was a wonder that he had any energy left whatsoever. But still, he had managed to reserve some of his peppiness for the thing that lied in store for him, and as a soft knock sounded, he opened his door with a knowing smile to reveal Konya leaning against the doorframe.  
  
_ _“Well, Mr. Romeo… I must say, you did a fantastic job,” she purred, grabbing ahold of Hattori’s tie and pulling herself up against him. The older man stroked the side of her face fondly, grabbing her waist and pulling her into the room, making sure to shut the door so that they weren’t interrupted.  
  
_ _“And if I may add, you, Ms. Juliet, did extraordinarily. It was a pleasure to work alongside you. I wonder, though… Did you have anyone there to admire your work?”  
  
_ _Konya giggled, her obnoxious laugh sounding like honey to Hattori’s drunk ears. “I didn’t,” she said, tilting her head to the side.  
  
_ _“What a shame,” Hattori retorted. “I suppose I’ll have to be the one to congratulate you for your job well done.”  
  
_ _Still holding her waist firmly in his hand, Hattori pulled her to his car, helping her into the passenger’s seat and then driving off into the night. The whole way to his home, Hattori’s hand was glued to his lover’s inner thigh, and the younger girl’s heinous laugh echoed through the empty countryside. Their happiness was short-lived, however, for the tell-tale flashing of a police car’s lights illuminated the inside of Hattori’s car, and they were forced to pull over and wait to see their punishment for driving while intoxicated.  
  
_ _The figure that approached the car, however, was dressed in all black, and they had a pitch-black ski mask pulled over their face, making it impossible for Hattori to identify the person that revealed the axe from behind their back and was the last thing that he ever saw.  
  
_ _Konya, in the passenger’s seat, watched as Hattori’s head was separated from his shoulders, and a shrill scream ripped itself from her throat, but it did nothing to stop the killer’s rampage. She struggled to unlock the door in order to run away from the fate that awaited her, but as luck would have it, the lock was jammed. With a loud crash, the person in the ski mask broke through the window and swung their axe once more, silencing the night in one fluid motion.  
  
_ _When the masked murderer had strewn the couple’s heads in the road in the most gruesome fashion that they could imagine, they pushed the car into the ditch on the side of the road, rolling it into a tree so that the top of the car was ripped off with the cacophonous sound of metal ripping itself apart. The killer moved down and made sure that Konya and Hattori’s wounds corresponded with the separated car, and then they walked back to their car, leaving the mess for the police force to discover._  
  
~~~~~~  
  
By the time that Akaashi and Bokuto returned to the station, Akaashi’s stomach almost hurt so badly that he couldn’t walk. It had been a long time since he had eaten so much, and he was severely paying the price for his gluttony in the restaurant. It also didn’t help that he was somewhat of a stress eater, though his metabolism helped him hide that side of himself.  
  
He flopped down into the chair at his desk, a low, pained groan escaping his lips. “Well, that certainly didn’t help my mood,” he whined. “I just want to go home and sleep.”  
  
A loud noise came from the front of the building, and a few moments later, Oikawa and Kuroo came strolling into the room, large boxes of food in their hands. They grinned happily at all of the officers who were in the room, and they plopped their food down on Akaashi’s desk, ignoring his grunt in protest.  
  
“Well, we figured that in celebration of Hattori and Konya’s deaths was on us, so we brought you all lunch while we work through the paperwork!” Oikawa announced, a large grin on his face.  
  
Akaashi frowned deeply in concern. “Don’t you mean ‘in remembrance’?”  
  
Kuroo dismissed Akaashi’s interjection with a nonchalant wave of his hand, and the other police officers dug into the boxes of food on Akaashi’s desk. By the time that everyone had been fed, the remains of the food boxes were strewn across the sergeant’s desk, much to his annoyance.  
  
Bokuto, across the desks from him, smiled pitifully. As Akaashi picked up what the detectives had so graciously left him, Bokuto interjected, “Hey, are we going to talk to Kuroo and Oikawa about the difference in the severing of the car and of the victims?”  
  
Akaashi finished cleaning off his desk before he responded. “Yeah, I think I will. Would you like to come with me to make sure that I include everything and don’t forget anything?”  
  
The amber-eyed officer brightened up and jumped out of his chair, and Akaashi realized that Bokuto had meant to talk to the detectives immediately. Bokuto led him down the hallway to Kuroo and Oikawa’s office, and after he knocked loudly, he led Akaashi into the crowded, messy office.  
  
“Oh, if it isn’t Officer Murder and his loyal sidekick,” Kuroo drawled, and Oikawa snickered. “What new conspiracy theories have you come up with for us?”  
  
Akaashi did his best to stay calm in the presence of the aggravating detectives, and he stared at the pair of them levelly. “When you were inspecting the crime scene for signs of foul play, did you notice that the edges of the car where the top was ripped off were jagged while Konya and Hattori were decapitated smoothly and cleanly? Did either of you find that significant enough to take into account?” he questioned, and Kuroo and Oikawa rolled their eyes in sync.  
  
“Yes, we noticed that,” Oikawa retorted, leaning forward. “And we decided that it just means that the car roof was what took off their heads, not the tree. Do you have anything you want to interrogate us about? Any other way you want to question how we do our jobs?”  
  
Kuroo leaned forward next to Oikawa, his smirk etched on his face, and Akaashi wondered if his face was permanently like that. “Akaashi, you do realize that we’re the detectives and you’re just a sergeant for a reason, right?” he spat.  
  
Akaashi felt an indescribable sense of rage fill him, and his fists clenched at his side. “Your job as detectives is to detect! You should be taking this seriously! There could be a killer on the loose! Someone could have been murdered!!” he cried, but he suddenly stopped when a hand landed on his shoulder. Akaashi looked over to see Konosuke standing behind him and Bokuto, a worried frown on his face.  
  
“Sergeant, I would like you to come with me,” Konosuke said calmly, and he looked over at Bokuto. “You can come, too, Kou.”  
  
The inspector lead them to his office, and he sat down at his desk while Akaashi and Bokuto stood awkwardly, neither of them wanting to take the seats in front of Konosuke. “Konosuke-san, I-”  
  
“Listen, Sergeant. As much as you want it to be, this isn’t Tokyo. In fact, there hasn’t been a recorded murder in Kuzutari for over 25 years! That being said, the officers and townspeople alike aren’t very accustomed to the thought of a killing taking place in this quiet town,” Konosuke interrupted, leaning forward and looking severely at Akaashi. “They don’t appreciate the ‘m’ word, Sergeant Akaashi, and neither do I. Now, unless you have solid evidence, I don’t to hear another word about the Hattori and Konya case. Understood?”  
  
Akaashi’s eyes widened in rage, but Bokuto’s hand gently brushed against his leg, and he schooled his expression to a more professional one. “Yes, sir,” he grumbled.  
  
“Good,” Konosuke cheered, his once deathly serious features turning into bright, cheerful ones. “Now that that’s settled, you two can go back to your paperwork.”  
  
Completely done with the entire police service save his partner, Akaashi stalked out of the office, and he stormed straight out of the building, Bokuto close at his heels. “Akaashi, what’s wrong?” he asked, grabbing Akaashi’s arm and stopping him outside of the station.  
  
Akaashi whirled around and stared into Bokuto’s eyes, and he was immediately calmed down enough to answer his partner. “I’m frustrated, Bokuto-san. That’s what’s wrong. No one is taking anything seriously, but apparently that’s perfectly acceptable because this is a small town. I can’t stand for that! The law is the law no matter where you live or who you live with, and it’s our job to make sure that the law is enforced. That means that it’s our responsibility to find the truth in whatever happened to Hattori and Konya. And the fact that nobody but you seems willing to do that pisses me off!”  
  
Bokuto listened to Akaashi’s small rant intently, nodding appreciatively. “I understand,” he said softly when Akaashi had finished. “But there’s not much we can do without making everyone else seriously upset with us. And we really don’t want to piss my dad off.”  
  
Akaashi sighed, knowing the spiky-haired officer was right. “Listen, we have to go and get our paperwork done, don’t we?” he said dejectedly, hanging his head in defeat.

“Hey hey hey!” Bokuto cried, patting him on the back. “Don’t worry, Akaashi. We’ll fly through the paperwork, and then as soon as that’s done, we can go get some ice cream. How does that sound?"  
  
The raven-haired sergeant smiled weakly. “That sounds fine,” he replied, though he wondered, _How much ice cream can one man eat?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr || bokutotrash.tumblr.com


	5. Trouble at the Fair

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha! I finished this chapter in a whole of two days, and I must admit that I'm totally on cloud nine. This chapter's a bit longer, and we're about to really dive into Bokuto and Akaashi's relationship as it progresses past a simple friendship. There is a bit of violence in this chapter (but it's not really THAT terrible), so just be wary. 
> 
> If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact me either in the comments or on my Tumblr, which be linked at the end of the chapter. :)
> 
> Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy your stay!

“Akaashi, Konosuke wants you to go to his office as soon as possible.” Suga stared down at Akaashi, his soft smile lighting up his eyes. “I think it’s about the fair later today.”  
  
Akaashi looked up from his paperwork, frowning slightly. “Fair? What fair?”  
  
Daichi came up behind Suga, a stack of paper in his arms. “It’s an annual thing that takes place outside of the local castle a little ways out of town. There’s games to play and a lottery that takes place, but a policeman always has to be on duty,” he explained.  
  
“Usually Bokuto gets stuck with it,” Suga added. “But since you’re the newbie, it sounds like Bokuto’s finally going to get a break.”  
  
Akaashi stood, looking around for his partner. When the spiky-haired officer was nowhere to be found, Akaashi returned his attention to the conversation. “Thank you for informing me,” he said formally, and he made his way to Konosuke’s office.  
  
When he walked into the inspector’s office, he saw Bokuto sitting in front of his father. Upon Akaashi’s arrival, the two police officers fell silent, and they turned to look at the sergeant. “Ah, Sergeant! There you are!” Konosuke cried, and he gestured for Akaashi to sit next to Bokuto. “Did Officer Sugawara explain what I need to ask you about?” he asked once Akaashi had taken a seat.  
  
“I… I think so. You want me to be on duty and act like security at the fair today?” Akaashi asked slowly. “And I’ll be doing it alone, correct?  
  
Konosuke nodded in response, but Bokuto straightened in his seat indignantly. “I want to help him, Dad,” he announced, and Akaashi raised his eyebrows at him in surprise.  
  
“All these years of you complaining and all it took was a police officer who’s nice to you to get you to want to work fair security?” Konosuke teased, and Akaashi noticed the faintest tinge of pink on the tips of Bokuto’s ears. The inspector turned to Akaashi, a grin still on his face. Akaashi was beginning to realize where Kuroo had learned his smirking habit from. “You should’ve joined the force years ago, Sergeant!”  
  
“Service,” Akaashi corrected under his breath, and he tried to ignore the squeak that escaped Bokuto at his father’s taunting. In a louder voice, he decided to distract Konosuke to save Bokuto from any further embarrassment. “I wouldn’t mind working the shift with Bokuto-san. It’ll certainly make it less boring, and he can help me since it’s my first time attending the fair.”  
  
Konosuke beamed at Akaashi brightly. “Then it’s settled! The fair starts in about an hour, so I’ll see you two then! Why don’t you go and get yourselves all dressed up?”  
  
Akaashi and Bokuto stood up in unison and exited the inspector’s office, and Bokuto clapped a hand on Akaashi’s shoulder. “Hey hey, thank you for getting him to stop being a little shit back there, Akaashi!” he said happily.  
  
The raven-haired sergeant led his partner to the locker room, where he changed out of his police uniform (he still kept on his stab vest) and into his clothes. “I say we go home and get changed, and then you can come by the hotel and pick me up. It wouldn’t hurt to be a little early to the fair so that I can get the feel for it. There’s no use having a security guard who doesn’t know what exactly he’s guarding,” Akaashi reasoned, and Bokuto quickly nodded his head in agreement.  
  
“Yeah, yeah, good idea! Say, why are you keeping your stab vest on? Nobody’s going to hurt you at the fair! Everyone will be there to have fun!”  
  
Akaashi shrugged, and once he and Bokuto were both changed, they exited the building together. “Better safe than sorry, I suppose. And it’s mostly a habit at this point anyways.”  
  
Bokuto frowned thoughtfully, his eyebrows furrowed. “If stab vests are as important as you believe them to be, how come they aren’t issued to every policeman?”  
  
“Police officer,” Akaashi corrected. He began walking down the sidewalk to his hotel, happy to see that Bokuto was planning on joining him. He always enjoyed walking through the small town of Kuzutari a little more with his eccentric partner by his side. “And I’m not sure, Bokuto-san. Maybe it’s because of a lack of funding?”  
  
Bokuto’s eyes widened, and he stared at Akaashi like he had just made a Nobel-prizing realization. “That’s a good point! Do you think that we would be able to convince anyone that they’re important, though, if there hasn’t been a stabbing here in a very long time?” he inquired, cocking his head to the side. The gesture reminded Akaashi of an owl.  
  
“If that’s the case, I feel as though most people would react the same way that Kuroo-san and Oikawa-san reacted on the first day that we all interacted. If I remember correctly, they thought that stab vests were utterly useless in such a small town, and I’m sure that most of the town and the police officers of Japan would agree with the detectives,” Akaashi mused. “But if you wanted a stab vest, Bokuto-san… I could buy you one.”  
  
Though Akaashi couldn’t believe that it was possible, Bokuto’s eyes widened even more at Akaashi’s gesture, and he quickly wrapped his arms around Akaashi and hugged him tightly, stopping both of them from walking, despite the fact that they were within sight of Akaashi’s hotel. “Akaashi! That’s so kind of you!” Bokuto cried, and if Akaashi didn’t know any better, he would have thought that Bokuto sounded like he was about to cry. But when Bokuto pulled away from their hug (much too soon in Akaashi’s opinion), his facial expression was as bright as ever, and he was beaming from ear to ear. “Let’s look into it tonight after the fair, yeah? You could come and hang out at my house for a while, and we could see how much a stab vest costs!”  
  
The two partners began walking again, Bokuto walking much closer to Akaashi than he had been previously, and they made their way to the hotel. Akaashi silently wished that he didn’t have to be separated from Bokuto, but he quickly scolded himself for being whiny about such a trivial thing. _He has places to be, and it’s not as though you’re not going to see him within the hour again. And besides, you’ll be spending the whole day with him._ “Alright, Bokuto-san,” Akaashi said as he walked up to the door. “Just come up to my room once you’re done changing into new clothes, and then we can walk from here to the fair together, okay?”  
  
Bokuto gave him an enthusiastic thumbs-up, and with a happy wave, the tall police officer made his way back down the street that led to his house. Akaashi turned, a small smile on his face, and he made his way up to his room, deciding that he had enough time to take a shower and make sure that he really looked presentable for the fair. He convinced himself that he was most definitely not dressing up nicely just for the sake of catching Bokuto’s attention because he would never resort to such desperate measures, but the voices of his conscience had never disagreed with him so much in all of his life.  
  
Akaashi showered quickly, making sure that he used his best smelling products, and when got out, he loosely wrapped a towel around his waist and went back into his room to decide what to wear. He had gotten as far as knowing that he was going to wear his favorite black skinny jeans when a knock sounded at his door. Akaashi whirled around in a fit of panic, and when he opened the door, completely forgetting the state of dress that he was in, he was filled with horror at the sight of Bokuto waiting out in the hallway.  
  
Bokuto, whose face was as red as a tomato, was staring at him with eyes as big as plates, and after a quick sweep of taking in Akaashi’s attire, he apparently decided that everything in their surroundings was more interesting than the sergeant in front of him. Of course, Bokuto’s behavior caused Akaashi to realize that he as in nothing but a low-hanging towel, and embarrassment flooded his senses so heavily that he quickly slammed the door in Bokuto’s face.  
  
Akaashi rushed to his bed, pulling on a white dress shirt and a black vest and his black jeans as quickly as possible, and he tossed the towel back into his bathroom, not caring whatsoever about where it landed. He shook his head quickly back and forth like a dog drying itself off, letting his wet curls plaster themselves onto his forehead, and then he quickly opened the door back open.  
  
To his surprise, Bokuto looked even more flustered to see Akaashi in nice clothes than he had at Akaashi’s previous lack of clothes. The amber-eyed man let out a sound that closely resembled a squawk, though he coughed to cover up his embarrassing noise. “Y-you-” Bokuto started in a voice that was about two octaves higher than his normal voice. He cleared his throat, blushing bright red. “You ready to go?”  
  
Akaashi had been so busy staring at Bokuto’s own outfit that he almost didn’t catch what Bokuto had asked him. Bokuto was wearing a short-sleeved button up shirt that was black on the lower half and white on the upper half, and it was just tight enough to showcase all of the muscles that the cloth hid. He was wearing khaki skinny jeans that were cuffed at the bottom, and Akaashi was immensely proud that he had managed not to drool at the sight of his partner in such a flattering outfit. “I, uh,” he scrambled, trying desperately to think of a coherent answer, “Yeah, I’m ready. Let’s go.”  
  
The two of them walked outside in silence, both of their faces red (and not from the light breeze that nipped at their cheeks). With the lack of an excitable retelling of a story from Bokuto, who was much too flustered to speak, Akaashi realized just how quiet the town was. Of course, he didn’t expect anything else from such a small town, but he still had expected to pass at least a few people on their way to the location of the fair. When they arrived at the castle and the property that the fair was being held at, Akaashi looked at his watch and saw that they were only about 20 minutes early.  
  
Finally, Bokuto broke the silence that had plagued them since Akaashi’s hotel, looking over at Akaashi curiously. “You decided not to wear your stab vest, then?”  
  
“No, I thought about it, and I didn’t see it as a necessity. I hope I don’t come to regret that decision,” Akaashi joked, laughing softly. “Also, it didn’t really go with my outfit.”  
  
Bokuto bit his lip and nodded softly. “It certainly is a nice outfit as it is,” he said softly, blushing as soon as the words left his mouth.  
  
Akaashi realized that he was blushing, too, and he quickly averted his gaze. “I, erm… Can we take a look around and see what all there is to do?” he asked quietly.  
  
“Oh, yeah! Good idea!” Bokuto cried a little too loudly, and he quickly lead Akaashi through the stalls that had already been set up.  
  
There was a stage set up with a tombola box, which Akaashi assumed was for the lottery that Daichi had mentioned. There were also multiple game stands, and Akaashi wondered who exactly the people of Kuzutari expected to play the games since he hadn’t seen all that many kids since his relocation. There were plenty of snack and food stands, as well, and when Akaashi’s stomach growled lowly, he realized with a start that he hadn’t had anything to eat. Finally, they came to a small clearing outlined with shady trees.  
  
“This is where everyone eats lunch,” Bokuto explained, leading Akaashi over to a particularly large tree. “Say, we’ve still got a while before we officially have to start working. Wanna hang out in this tree until the fair starts?”  
  
Before Akaashi had the chance to respond, Bokuto had scaled the trunk of the tree and perched himself on a branch about five feet above Akaashi’s head. The raven-haired man gave his friend a serious expression, though the corners of his mouth were turned up ever so slightly. When Bokuto was up high enough in the trees, Akaashi pushed himself up into the branches, joining his partner.  
  
“I can’t believe you actually did it!” cried Bokuto, and he grinned down at Akaashi happily.  
  
The two of them made themselves comfortable on branches that were about the same level, and Bokuto slumped against a particularly sturdy branch. “I’m really glad that Dad let me work the fair with you,” he mused, closing his eyes and basking in the sunlight that poured through the leaves. Thankfully, the weather had cooperated, the sky was clear and blue above their heads. “I know how much it sucks to work this alone, and I really didn’t want you to have to experience that.”  
  
“Suga-san and Daichi-san said that you’ve been doing security at the fair for a long time,” Akaashi replied. “I was surprised when you offered to do it yet again when you had an opportunity to take a day off.”  
  
Bokuto shrugged nonchalantly. “I figured spending the whole day with you would be rewarding enough to make up for a lost free day,” he said simply, and Akaashi felt his cheeks burn yet again. _What is it with him today and making me feel like a grade-schooler with his first crush?_ Akaashi wondered.  
  
“I’m afraid you’re going to find this whole experience rather disappointing.”  
  
“Hah!” Bokuto scoffed, opening his eyes to look over at Akaashi. “You, disappointing? Never. You’re the most incredibly exciting person I’ve ever met.” He paused, frowning softly. “Actually, Kuroo might have you beat. But you’re a close second!”  
  
Akaashi laughed, raising his arms and putting his hands behind his head. “I’m glad to hear that, Bokuto-san. You’re more definitely the most interesting person I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet. I’m glad that I was paired up with you when I came here. If I had been assigned to be partners with anyone else in the service, I’m not sure that I would have stuck around,” Akaashi admitted.  
  
Bokuto’s eyebrows raised in surprise, his mouth falling open slightly. “Are you kidding me? You really enjoy being around me that much? Wow…” Bokuto looked back up at the sky, obviously thinking over Akaashi’s words.  
  
The sudden sound of chimes ringing pierced the silence of the clearing, and Akaashi heard the distant sound of people talking. He perked up, trying to see through the trees branches at the fair’s entrance. “Does that mark one o’clock?” he mused aloud. He climbed down the tree slowly, and he heard a few dull thumps behind him. He turned back to see Bokuto practically falling out of the tree onto the ground, though the amber-eyed officer quickly recovered and made himself look presentable.  
  
Bokuto flashed a smile, and he wrapped his arm around Akaashi’s shoulders. “I believe so. And you know what that means! Fair time!”  
  
~~~~~~  
  
“Akaashi, c’mere!” Bokuto’s loud call echoed over the low murmur of the crowd, and Akaashi turned his head to look at the tall police officer.  
  
He made his way over to Bokuto, only to realize that the stand that Bokuto was waiting at was a shooting game booth. Akaashi heart wrenched at the sight of the fake gun on the counter, and he did his best not to remember the last time that he had held a gun in his hands. Bokuto, however, didn’t seem to notice that anything was wrong, for he continued to beam at Akaashi.  
  
“You should play!” he cried excitedly, and he nudged the gun closer to Akaashi.  
  
Akaashi moved his attention from the gun to his partner, his frown deep and serious. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Bokuto-san. I don’t feel very comfortable around guns, and it’s been a long time since I shot one,” he said severely, and he glanced over at Nakehara, the local doctor, who was in charge of the booth.  
  
“It’s just a game, Sergeant. What could possibly go wrong?” the doctor said amiably, and Akaashi clenched his jaw in defeat.  
  
 _Fine_ , he thought. _Let’s just get this over with._ Grabbing the gun on the counter in a painfully familiar motion, Akaashi aimed for each of the targets, striking all of them down in a matter of seconds. When he had successfully finished, he set the gun back on the counter, looking back and forth between Nakehara and Bokuto. “What did I win?” he asked calmly.  
  
Nakehara pointed to the wall, though he continued to stare at Akaashi with an amazed expression. Akaashi ignored the doctor, however, and turned to look at all of the largest prizes the man had to offer. When his eyes landed on a giant plush owl, he immediately reached up and grabbed it off of the wall. With absolutely no hesitation, Akaashi quickly turned around and shoved the owl into Bokuto’s arms.  
  
“Here. Take it. I want you to have it,” he mumbled, and he could feel his cheeks and the tips of his ears grow hot out of embarrassment. He stared at the ground, not wanting to see Bokuto’s reaction.  
  
Still, even though he didn’t see how Bokuto responded, he heard the other man gasp softly, and he was dragged into a hug as soon as Bokuto had set the owl down on the ground. “Thank you, Akaashi! That’s so sweet of you!”  
  
Akaashi mumbled a response, and when Bokuto pulled away from him, he decided to look away from his highly embarrassing situation. His eyes landed on Takara, the shopowner, running the hammer gamer, and Akaashi frowned when he saw the menacing way that Takara was holding the oversized hammer in his hands. _Why does it always seem like he’s up to something?_ Akaashi wondered, but he decided not to say anything about the mysterious man to Bokuto.  
  
“Where to next, Bokuto-san?” he asked softly, mustering up the courage to look at his partner. Bokuto was smiling happily at the owl, and his eyes quickly lifted to meet Akaashi’s gaze.  
  
“I was thinking we could go and walk around the food carts. See if anything exciting is going on over there,” Bokuto replied, and when Akaashi nodded in response, Bokuto grabbed Akaashi’s hand and pulled him to where the food was being sold.  
  
Suddenly, two hands clasped down on Akaashi’s shoulders, and he whirled around to come face-to-face with two smirking detectives. “Wow, Aka-chan!” Oikawa chimed, and Akaashi grimaced at the nickname. “We almost didn’t recognize you without that bulky vest on! Who knew you were actually really fit!”  
  
Kuroo nodded in agreement, his eyes raking up and down Akaashi’s body. “Yeah, you look nice. What’s the occasion? Don’t tell me you dressed up just for the fair,” he commented, and his gaze slipped over to Bokuto. Suddenly, his eyes widened, and he surged forward. He grabbed ahold of Bokuto’s bicep, and in a flash, the two of them were gone, Kuroo dragging Bokuto off to an unknown location. Unfortunately for Akaashi, that meant being left alone with Oikawa, who was beaming at him, and Akaashi was suspicious of the detective’s ulterior motive.  
  
“Tetsu-chan is right. How come you dressed up so nicely? Was it to impress Kou-chan?” Oikawa asked, tilting his head to the side, and it took a moment for Akaashi to register that Kou-chan was referring to Bokuto. The minute that he understood Oikawa’s question, however, his eyes widened defensively.  
  
“I didn’t dress like this for Bokuto-san. I dressed up because I felt like it,” Akaashi argued, though he knew that he wasn’t convincing enough when he was met with a knowing smile.  
  
“Oh, sure,” Oikawa responded with a simple wave of his hand. “And I’m sure he dressed like he did for himself, too. You two are so adorable!”  
  
Akaashi clenched his jaw in frustration, annoyed by the detective’s ability to detect only things that Akaashi didn’t want him to. “You know, my life and Bokuto-san’s are none of your business, Oikawa-san,” Akaashi replied softly.  
  
Oikawa chuckled, shrugging in a carefree manner. “Ah, maybe it isn’t, but gossiping is sure fun. And my, you and Kou-chan are such a fun topic!”  
  
At that moment, Kuroo and Bokuto returned, and Kuroo returned to Oikawa’s side while Bokuto returned to Akaashi’s. Kuroo looked at Oikawa knowingly, and the latter nodded simply. Akaashi wished that whatever ESP the two detectives had would somehow be ripped from their minds, and he quickly grabbed ahold of Bokuto’s arm and dragged him away before Kuroo or Oikawa could make another sarcastic comment. He most definitely didn’t need them outing him for his crush on Bokuto in front of the other officer.  
  
As Akaashi dragged Bokuto along, he noticed Lev and Yaku bobbing for apples, and he snickered quietly to himself at the absurd sight of Lev hunched over a tiny barrel with his head submerged in gross water. Yaku seemed to find the ordeal funny, too, for he was laughing happily beside the lanky officer. Bokuto and Akaashi continued walking, and Akaashi saw Suga and Daichi sitting underneath one of the trees in the clearing, both of them hunched over a book and reading out of it together. They even saw Konosuke hanging out around the stage where the lottery was to take place, chatting happily with someone that Akaashi didn’t recognize.

“Say, Akaashi, would you like to sit down somewhere?” Bokuto asked, pulling Akaashi from his spectating. “You look a little out of it. And we don’t have to do security the whole time!”

Akaashi sighed and nodded softly. “We can sit down, but let’s at least sit somewhere we can still observe people and make sure everything’s running smoothly,” he said, and he allowed Bokuto to grab his hand and drag him off to one of the secluded areas of the clearing with all the trees.

Right as they sat down, a man came running up to them, and he had run so fast towards them that he had to wait before he spoke to catch his breath. Akaashi and Bokuto stared up at him curiously, but their answers were quickly delivered as soon as the man straightened up and looked them in the eyes.

“Hello, officers. My name is Adachi Mochihido, and I work for the local newspaper. I have some information that I need to share with the two of you,” the man rambled, his voice quick and light. “Meet me at the castle at three, okay?”

When Bokuto and Akaashi answered him with matching dazed nods, Adachi sent them a bright smile and ran off. The two police officers looked at each other, and after a moment or two of silence, they both burst out into laughter.

“Oh my gosh,” Bokuto wheezed. “What if everyone talked that fast?” He continued to speak in gibberish, and it had Akaashi clutching at his stomach.  
  
Once Akaashi had finished laughing, when he was wiping the tears from his eyes, he asked, “So do you think we should meet him?”

Bokuto shrugged, still grinning. “What’s the worst that happens: he gives us a bullshit story that we have to sit through?”

Akaashi nodded thoughtfully, but his thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of yet another citizen. Endo Shiba, one of the members of the NWA, stood in front of him, grinning from ear to ear. Instead of Adachi, however, Endo was concerned with Akaashi and Akaashi only, and the sergeant wondered if he had even noticed Bokuto’s presence.  
  
“Sergeant,” Endo greeted cheerfully. “I have a rather large favor to ask you. Would you be willing to pull the winning lottery ticket?”

Akaashi glanced at his watch thoughtfully, and he noticed that he had about fifteen minutes before he and Bokuto needed to meet Adachi. “When would we do that?” he asked the man in front of him.

“Immediately!”

Akaashi stood slowly, and Bokuto joined him, though he had to grab Akaashi’s hand to pull himself up. “Sure. We need to hurry, though,” Akaashi said. “I need to meet someone somewhere at three.”

Endo nodded, and he led the two officers to the stage where the lottery was being held. Endo walked up onto the stage first, followed by Akaashi, and then Bokuto clambered up behind them, standing over to the side with his hands on his hips.

“Alright, Kuzutari! The lottery is finally being drawn!” Endo announced loudly. “And to read off the winner is our newest addition to the Kuzutari police force, Sergeant Akaashi Keiji!”

As applause filled his ears, Akaashi stepped forward towards the microphone, deciding not to correct Endo on his incorrect terminology. He stood with his arms behind his back, staring out at the crowd nervously. He had always hated being the center of attention, and public speaking was his worst enemy.

“Uh… Yes… Hello,” he began, looking over at Bokuto and swallowing thickly. “Bokuto-san, would you like to draw the winning ticket for me?”

Bokuto nodded quickly and made his way over to the tombola machine, and he drew out a ticket and handed it to Akaashi. “There you go,” he said, and he gave Akaashi a reassuring smile that surprisingly calmed the sergeant immensely.

Remembering where he was, Akaashi looked down at the ticket and announced the winner of the lottery. “Takara Toshinobu.”

A soft murmur rippled through the crowd, and Akaashi saw that Takara was nowhere to be seen. “Looks like he’s not here,” Endo said from the edge of the stage. “Why don’t you read another ticket, Sergeant?”

Bokuto pulled another ticket and handed it to Akaashi, and Akaashi stared at the ticket in awe. “Adachi Mochihido,” he called, though he knew that the recipient wouldn’t be anywhere within hearing range of the lottery.

Akaashi looked at his watch and realized that it was 2:59, and without saying anything, he gripped ahold of Bokuto’s hand and pulled him off the stage, running as fast as he could towards the castle. The two officers arrived at the large structure and turned the corner to see Adachi waiting patiently. Akaashi breathed out a sigh of relief that they hadn’t kept the reporter waiting, and he took a few more steps towards Adachi.

To his horror, he would never know what Adachi had planned on telling him. At the precise moment that a distant clock chimed out three o’clock, a part of the roof came sailing down from above, and it landed directly on Adachi’s head, destroying the reporter and sending blood flying everywhere. Unfortunately, Akaashi had been standing a little too close, and upon the impact of the roof, a significant amount of Adachi’s blood sprayed all over the sergeant.

Bokuto let out a loud gasp, and he rushed forward to grab ahold of Akaashi’s arm and pull him away from the remains of Adachi. Bokuto spun Akaashi around, using his hand to gently wipe some of  Adachi’s blood off of Akaashi’s face. “Akaashi... “ Bokuto muttered, frowning deeply. “Are you okay?”

Akaashi opened his eyes once the blood was wiped off of his eyes, and he stared at Bokuto, completely at a loss for words. Before he could respond to Bokuto’s question, a mob of people came running around the corner, and Akaashi looked over Bokuto’s shoulder to lock gazes with Konosuke. The inspector quickly approached him, pushing Bokuto aside a little too roughly.

“Sergeant!” Konosuke cried, grabbing ahold of both of Akaashi’s arms. “Are you okay? What happened?”

Akaashi blinked at Bokuto’s father, trying to sort his thoughts out long enough to respond with a coherent answer. “I… Adachi’s been murdered.”

A loud groan swept through the crowd, and Akaashi looked behind Konosuke and saw the police officers and the detectives standing and watching Konosuke and Akaashi curiously. “Akaashi, you’ve just witnessed a terrible accident. You shouldn’t jump to conclusions,” Konosuke said calmly, capturing Akaashi’s attention once more.

“It wasn’t an accident, Konosuke-san,” Akaashi retorted, shaking his head quickly. “There’s no way that the roof collapsing on Adachi was an accident. Someone had to have broke the roof off manually.”

Bokuto nodded beside him, staring at his father with large eyes. “It’s true, Dad. Akaashi and I saw the whole thing. With the way that the roof fell, there’s no way that foul play wasn’t involved.  
  
Akaashi heard another groan come from the detectives and the police officers, and Konosuke’s expression steeled itself. “Alright, if you say so.” The inspector turned towards the police officers and the detectives. “Suga, Daichi, you two are on crowd control, make sure that this area is sectioned off so that no one has to see this horrible tragedy. Lev and Yaku, you two are in charge of cleaning up Adachi’s body and removing the roof. Oikawa and Kuroo, go and check in the castle for any signs of tampering with the building. Bokuto and Akaashi… You know what to do.”

~~~~~~

“Of course it’s raining.”

Akaashi stared down at himself, his shirt drenched with rainwater and the remains of Adachi. Since he hadn’t had a chance to go home and change, he had been forced to work the remainder of the day in bloodstained clothes. Now his shirt clung to his torso, making him extremely uncomfortable. Bokuto’s shirt was also plastered to his chest, but he didn’t seem nearly as uncomfortable as Akaashi did.

“Well… Maybe the others getting to go home means that we’ll be let off the hook soon,” Bokuto mused, and he clutched the sopping wet owl plushie to his chest.

Akaashi frowned over at him, furrowing his eyebrows. “You want to go home? Seriously? We need to stay and find more clues that point to how Adachi was murdered,” he said calmly, and he continued inspecting the ground where Adachi had been standing when he’d died.

“But, Akaashi, we’ve been here long enough. If we haven’t found anything by now, there probably isn’t anything to find,” Bokuto replied, and Akaashi looked back up at him in annoyance.

“Well, we certainly aren’t going to find anything if you have that kind of attitude. Stop running away from a problem just because you’re too lazy to deal with it.”

As soon as the words left Akaashi’s mouth, he could tell that he had crossed a line. Bokuto’s eyes widened slightly in anger, and Akaashi could see his jaw clench. “I’m not lazy. I just know when to let it go! That’s your problem!” he cried, and he narrowed his eyes at the sergeant. “You don’t know how to switch off! You put your job before anything else, including your friends, and if you’re not careful, you’re going to lose everyone that you care about!”

Defiantly, Akaashi stood and stared at Bokuto chillingly. “Why does it matter so much to you? Your job should be just as important, especially when the justification of someone’s life is on the line!” he yelled in retaliation. “Who cares if I like my job more than you? So what?!”

Bokuto flinched, clenching his fists into the fur of the owl in his hands. “I can’t believe I thought you actually cared about me,” he spat, glaring daggers at Akaashi. “And to think… I actually developed feelings for you! Well, I see now that you’re absolutely a waste of my time. Why would I ever spend my life chasing after someone who chases imaginary bad guys and makes people out to be worse than they are?”

Without another word, Bokuto spun on his heels and stalked off, not looking back at Akaashi once. Akaashi stared after him, trying to process what Bokuto had told him. _Bokuto-san had feelings for you… And you completely blew him off. You actually had a chance with him, and now it’s all gone to shit. Way to go, idiot._ Akaashi clenched and unclenched his fists a few times before deciding that there was no point in doing the work alone, so he started towards his hotel, defeated beyond measure.

_I can’t believe Bokuto-san liked me,_ he thought miserably as he drug his feet through the puddles on the sidewalk. _And then I had to go and be a complete dickhead to him. What kind of a person am I? Bokuto-san was right. I really can’t switch off._

After about ten minutes of a self-pity-filled walk, Akaashi finally arrived at his hotel, and he made his way slowly up to his room. When he walked into the room, he was met with the owl that he had won for Bokuto lying on his bed with a note tied around its neck that read “ _For Akaashi - left at front desk_ ”. Akaashi had never felt so sick to his stomach in all of his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr || bokutotrash.tumblr.com


	6. The Arsenal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!! I'm back! :D  
> This chapter is the longest so far because I got a little carried away, but at least there's a bit of sin (nsfw content) to make up for it! (Unless you like long chapters - then the smut scene is just an added bonus!) So see you in hell. ;)  
> Thank you so much for taking the time to come back week after week to read my story; it means more to me than I'll ever be able to express. :)  
> If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact me either in the comments or on my Tumblr, which be linked at the end of the chapter. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy your stay!

When Akaashi arrived at the farmhouse that he, Lev, and Daichi had been called out to, he was hardly surprised to see that Bokuto was missing from the scene. A soft sigh escaped his lips - Bokuto hadn’t come to work the previous day, making it so that the last time that Akaashi had seen his partner was when they had gotten into their argument. He had asked Kuroo about it since he figured that Kuroo would know Bokuto the best, but all he got in reply was a glare and a “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

He climbed out of the car, approaching the man who owned the farmhouse and the other two police officers. “What seems to be the problem?” Akaashi asked Daichi, who was frowning severely. The brunet always seemed to be in a better mood when his grey-haired partner was by his side.

“This guy’s been chopping down his neighbor’s hedge,” Daichi said simply.

Lev bounded over to them, and Akaashi looked over at the lanky man. “What is it, Lev?”

“Well,” the tall officer said thoughtfully. “I was just wondering if you’ve seen Bokuto-san around. I wonder if he’s in one of his dejected moods.”

Akaashi frowned curiously, and he turned his attention to Daichi, who was rolling his eyes at Lev. “What does that mean? What’s a ‘dejected mood’?” he asked the shorter officer.

“Bokuto is bipolar. You haven’t been here long enough to see any of his downswings, but my guess is that Bokuto missed work yesterday and today because he’s not feeling well emotionally,” Daichi replied with a shrug.

Akaashi was almost completely sure that upon hearing Daichi’s words, his heart literally skipped a beat. Bokuto was bipolar… and he’d never even thought to tell Akaashi? Akaashi swallowed thickly, moving past the two officers to go and talk to the man who owned the farmhouse, deciding silently that he would just use his work to distract him from the emotional pain he was feeling.

“Why did we receive a call saying that you’ve been cutting down the hedges in your neighbor’s yard?”

The man shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, looking at the officers evenly. “A hedge is a hedge,” he deadpanned. “And the hedge was blocking my view, so I clipped it a little bit.”

Akaashi sighed softly, pinching the bridge of his nose in irritation. “Fine. Whatever,” he grumbled, frowning deeply.

From behind him, Daichi asked, “Sir… do you have that firearm properly registered?”

The raven-haired sergeant’s attention was called to the rifle in the man’s hands. _Was that there the whole time?_ he wondered. The man, who was also looking down at his gun, frowned thoughtfully. “I do for this one,” he answered.

Akaashi nodded, but then he realized exactly what the man had said. He narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean ‘this one’?”

Without another word, the man turned and led the three officers into his shed. When he clicked on the lights, Akaashi’s mouth fell open in horror. On every wall, hundreds of guns were hung, and there were over ten racks on the floor that were packed with even more firearms.

“Holy shit…” Lev gasped, clapping his hand over his mouth.

Daichi slowly started walking through the shed, and Akaashi followed closely behind him. At the back of the shed, tucked away in a corner was an old, dusty sea mine, and Akaashi gasped.

“Is that… live?” Daichi asked, turning around to look at the old man.

The man pushed past him, scoffing. “Nah, this is deactivated. There’s nothing to worry about,” he said, and he smacked the butt of his rifle on the mine.

Suddenly, there was a clicking noise, and the mine began emitting an ominous ticking sound. Akaashi stared at the mine with eyes as big as plates, and he suddenly turned and faced Daichi, Lev, and the old man.

“Run!” he bellowed, and the four men sprinted out of the shed.

Akaashi made sure that everyone made it out of the shed before him, and he ushered them all behind the man’s old car, bracing for the explosion that the sea mine was to deliver. When nothing happened, Akaashi was the first one to approach the shed again and peek inside.

“Alright, officers,” he said once the coast was clear. “Time to haul all of this into the station.”

~~~~~~

Akaashi plopped into his chair at his desk, trying to ignore how empty the station felt without Bokuto occupying the desk across from him. His arms hurt from holding so many guns for so long, but he had decided not to voice his discomfort, for Lev was already parading around the station, following Yaku around and whining to him. It was just as Akaashi was finishing up his paperwork for the new arsenal of guns that they had acquired that Daichi and Suga approached him with giant smiles.

 “So, Akaashi, today was a big day for all of us here,” Daichi began, and Suga nodded beside him.

The sergeant nodded slowly, wary of the officers’ ulterior motives. “Yes, Daichi-san, I would have to agree,” he said slowly.

“And so, to celebrate, we were thinking about taking the department out to the bar tonight for a few drinks!” Suga concluded. 

Akaashi frowned thoughtfully. It was true that the day had been long thanks to the extensive amount of paperwork they had needed to complete with the influx of inventory items, and it was also true that all of the officers had been given permission from Konosuke that they could have the rest of the night off. But even still, Akaashi found it hard to immediately answer his fellow officers. He wasn’t nearly as close to any of the other police officers as he was with Bokuto, and he had never socialized with the team without his partner by his side, and the thought of them all partying while Bokuto was suffering at home made his stomach ache. Suddenly, Akaashi straightened in his seat as an idea popped into his mind.

“Officers, I’ll go out tonight on one condition,” he said. “I need you to tell me all that you can about Bokuto-san’s bipolar moods. Particularly his down moods.”

Suga and Daichi exchanged a look, and Akaashi noticed Lev and Yaku walk into the room and freeze upon hearing his question. “Well… Where should we start?” Daichi asked Suga, and he chuckled weakly.

Suga grabbed the seat from his chair, and he pulled it up and sat down, looking at Akaashi seriously. “Of course, Bokuto was here a lot longer than a lot of us since his father is the inspector, but all of us have experienced him when he’s having a bipolar episode, or as we like to call them: ‘his dejected mode’. Every once in a while, Bokuto will go overboard, and usually what happens is: he overworks himself and then falls into his dejected mood after the case or whatever he’s worked on is finished. Most of the time, in his dejected moods, Bokuto just stays at home for a few days, but he can be gone for up to a week at a time,” the grey-haired man explained.

“When he gets like this, not even Kuroo can talk him out of the mood, and they’ve been friends since they were kids,” Yaku added, and Akaashi realized that he and Lev had approached his desk and were shamelessly butting in on the conversation. “He gets all insecure, and he convinces himself that he’s worthless and that nobody wants him.”

The sound of coughing came from the door, and Akaashi looked up to see Kuroo leaning against the doorframe, with no Oikawa by his side. All four of the officers surrounding Akaashi quickly moved away, pretending as though they hadn’t just been talking about Bokuto at all. Kuroo walked up to Akaashi once the officers had dispersed, and he sat down in the chair that Suga had previously been in.

“Kuroo-san, I’m sorry for asking about Bokuto-san. I’m just really worried-”

“There’s no need to apologize. I’m not mad at you.” Kuroo stared at him with a serious expression. “I heard what they were telling you, and I want to validate their words. Bokuto is a very fragile individual, though he is also very strong-hearted and strong-willed. It’s true that when he gets like this, I can’t help him, but that’s because we’re such good friends that he doesn’t take what I say to heart.”

Akaashi nodded softly. “I understand. But I want to help him. I care about him a lot, and I want to make up for how I treated him at the fair,” he said quietly, and Kuroo smiled a genuine smile.

“Bokuto cares about you a lot, too, and I’m absolutely positive that he’ll listen to you if you go and try and talk to him. Why don’t you go to his house and talk to him for a little while? Invite him out to the bar, and make up from your fight. I’m sure that if anyone could get him out of his dejected mode, it’d be you, Akaashi.”

With wide eyes, Akaashi nodded and hurried to the locker room, where he changed into his clothes in record time. He was sure that his sweatshirt would be enough to keep him warm in the cold evening winds, so without any hesitation, he ran outside. The winds were harsh, but Akaashi was determined to run all the way to Bokuto’s house without paying attention to the freezing temperatures. _This is what those morning runs with Bokuto-san have trained you for,_ he told himself, and he ran down the street that he knew ended with Bokuto’s house.

When he arrived, he was slightly out of breath, but he still marched up to the front door and knocked on the door confidently. There were a few moments of silence before the door opened slowly, and Akaashi hardly recognized the man who answered the door.

Bokuto’s hair wasn’t spiked up, but instead it fell into his eyes, which were bloodshot. There were bags under his eyes, and he had a light five o’clock shadow that accented his cheekbones. He was wearing a baggy t-shirts and sweatpants, and when his eyes locked with Akaashi’s, they widened in terror.

“A-Akaashi! What are you doing here?!” he cried.

Akaashi bit his lip and shuffled nervously, standing with his hands behind his back as he swayed from side to side ever so slightly. “I came to apologize for the way that I treated you the day before yesterday. You aren’t lazy, and I don’t care about my job more than you. In fact, for the first time in my life, I care about someone a million times more than my job… And that scared me so badly that I took it out on you. It was childish of me to act in such a way, and I-”

Suddenly, Bokuto had surged forward and planted his lips on Akaashi’s, kissing him with so much emotion that Akaashi was almost overwhelmed. Bokuto lifted his arms and wrapped them around Akaashi in a crushing hug, and Akaashi’s heart began racing. _I’m kissing Bokuto-san,_ he said to himself, _I’m kissing Bokuto-san!!_ With a sudden surge of excitement, Akaashi brought one hand up to cup Bokuto’s jaw, and he tangled his free fingers in the black and white locs of Bokuto’s hair.

Bokuto laughed into the kiss, and they sat there on Bokuto’s front porch for more time than they cared to keep track of. Finally, when both of them were more than out of breath, Akaashi pulled back and stared into Bokuto’s bright eyes. It may have just been a trick of the light, but Akaashi was sure that there was a shine in his expression that hadn’t been there when Bokuto had opened the door.

“I’m sorry, too, Akaashi. I shouldn’t have been so touchy, and I shouldn’t have said that you don’t know how to switch off,” Bokuto said softly, and his smiled weakly. “I think it was just the shock of all that had happened that day that was getting to both of us, so I don’t think there’s really anything else that we need to discuss about that.”

Akaashi nodded in agreement, smiling brightly. “I’m glad that that’s settled, then. I’ve got to tell you all about work, but first I have to ask… Would you like to come to the bar with all of us police officers tonight? I came to ask because I know that it just wouldn’t feel right without you.”

“Well…” Bokuto started with a frown. “I probably look like shit… So that may not be a good idea.”

“You can take as much time as you need to get ready. I’m not in any hurry,” Akaashi replied simply.

Bokuto nodded, and he grabbed Akaashi’s hand, pulling him inside the house. Upon entering, Akaashi realized that he had been outside of Bokuto’s house many times, but he had never actually ventured inside. It was a simple house, with the living room being the first room that they walked into, but Akaashi was impressed by the overall aesthetic of Bokuto’s house. The walls were painted a simple shade of black, and there were three long white couches all around a glass center table. There was a flat screen TV on the wall, and white lamps and small tables around the room.

Akaashi looked around in awe at how clean the house was. Knowing Bokuto, and knowing the state of his desk at the police station, Akaashi never would have expected Bokuto’s house to be so spotless. Bokuto watched Akaashi in amusement before he slowly tugged on his hand. “C’mon, Akaashi. Go ahead and sit down while I go and get ready,” he said, and Akaashi happily went over and sat down on one of the couches. Bokuto gave him a happy wave before disappearing to the upper level of the house.

When Akaashi was left to the chilling silence of the practically empty house, he was also left to his thoughts. _Bokuto… kissed me!_ he cheered silently. He made a mental note to talk to Bokuto about the kiss when they were at the bar, though he figured it was probably smarter to talk to him about it on their way so that no one could eavesdrop on them.

It was about half an hour later when Bokuto finally reappeared, and Akaashi did a double take at the transformation the amber-eyed man had undergone. Bokuto’s hair was back to its normal spiky state, and his face was cleanly shaven and taken care of. He was wearing black shirt underneath a red flannel, and he had on black skinny jeans instead of his previous sweatpants. He also had long black boots on, and Akaashi had to fight to keep his mouth from falling open.

“Hey… Listen, Akaashi…” Bokuto said softly as he approached the couch that Akaashi was sitting on. “I want you to know that me being gone from work yesterday had nothing to do with our fight. I, uh… I’m bipolar, and so I was just in a bad mood because of that.”

Akaashi stood, tilting his head to the side. “But you got in the bad mood in the first place because of me yelling at you, didn’t you?”

Bokuto rubbed the back of his neck and blushed lightly, laughing weakly. “Well, yeah… But you really shouldn’t worry about it. You coming here and worrying about me… and, you know, kissing me back… That really lifted my spirits, so don’t worry about that anymore tonight, okay?” he said, and he smiled warmly.

Akaashi stepped forward, closing the gap between him and Bokuto, and he wrapped his arms around Bokuto’s torso in a hug. “That’s good, Bokuto-san. I’m glad you’re feeling better. Are you ready to go to the bar now?” he asked.

Bokuto nodded and hugged him for a few seconds before pulling away and leading Akaashi to the door. “I expect to hear all about this case that you worked today that deserved a celebratory bar trip,” he said, and he walked outside, Akaashi following close behind.

Akaashi retold the story of the man and his extensive gun collection, and Bokuto listened intently to the tale, laughing at every spot that he was supposed to and gasping in horror according to the story. The whole retelling took the whole time that they were walking to the bar, and Akaashi wrapped up his story right as they walked into the building.

“And so we had to bring all of the weapons back and put them into inventory. My arms were killing me, and I’ve never filled out so much paperwork in my life,” Akaashi said with a soft laugh, and they made their way up to the counter.

“A beer for me,” Bokuto announced to the bartender, and he turned to look at Akaashi. “You know, you should actually drink something with a kick tonight.”

Akaashi grimaced, looking at the beer that was passed to Bokuto over the counter. “I think I’ll pass,” he replied.

Bokuto whined, giving Akaashi big puppy dog eyes. “Please? For me?”

With a loud groan, Akaashi had no choice but to give into Bokuto’s pleas. “Fine! I’ll have a beer as well.”

With a loud cheer, Bokuto waited until Akaashi received his drink, and then he led him over to a table in the corner away from a lot of the rest of the people. There was a moment of awkward silence as the two of them stared at each other nervously. It wasn’t until Bokuto decided to suddenly blurt out that the awkwardness ended.

“Why did you kiss me back? I thought you didn’t like me like that! In fact… I didn’t even think you were gay!”

Akaashi chuckled softly, rubbing the back of his neck shyly. “Well, it may have taken me a little too long to realize it, I do have feelings for you. My outburst at the fair may have been what confused you, but I assure you, I only said that I enjoy my job more than your company because I was angry. I actually find your company very enticing, not to mention the fact that I find you incredibly attractive,” he admitted, blushing lightly.

Bokuto’s eyes widened, and a blush spread across his own cheeks. “If I’m attractive, that makes you, like, a god or something!” He paused when Akaashi almost spat out his beer. “I… I just… What does that kiss mean? Are we… Do you just want to stay friends? Or could we be… something more?”

It was odd for Akaashi to see Bokuto so unsure of himself, and the sight made him reach across the table and grab Bokuto’s hand in his. “Let’s just take it day by day and see how we feel, okay? I don’t want to rush into anything… mainly because I’ve never done anything like this… Okay?” he asked slowly.

Bokuto nodded happily, grinning down at their intertwined fingers. “Sure. I’m totally fine with taking it slow. Can we still kiss, though?”

Akaashi laughed softly, his eyes crinkling. “Sure. Just not right now. I’m not sure how our coworkers and the people of the village would take it. Most people don’t really like the thought of two men kissing…”

The spiky-haired officer smiled kindly, leaning forward. “I understand. Hey… I just realized… You’ve been with us for about a month or so now, right?”

Akaashi frowned thoughtfully. “Yeah… It seems like I’ve been here a lot longer. Maybe that’s just because so many days go by where we don’t do anything,” he said with a chuckle.

“Well, I’ve known you for about a month, and I don’t really know all that much about you!” Bokuto exclaimed, obviously distressed. “Okay, that’s it. I’m going to take tonight as an opportunity to get to know you better, Akaashi. First things first: how old are you?”

“24. How old are you, Bokuto-san?”

Bokuto beamed. “25. What made you want to become a police man?”

“Police officer,” Akaashi grumbled.

“What made you want to become a police-man-officer?”

Akaashi sighed in defeat and thought back through his memories to his childhood. “When I was young, back in elementary school, my mother was infatuated with American cop films. Every Friday, when she came home from work, we would sit down with a bunch of snacks and marathon two or three action movies. And when I saw the actors waving their guns around and creating more mayhem than helping, it made me upset. I thought to myself, ‘If all cops are like that, somebody needs to step in and show them how to really make a difference. Somebody needs to come forward and lead with an iron fist and make sure that the bad guys are really dealt with.’ Of course, as I got older, I realized that the cops in the movies only acted that way because it made for exciting plots, but the fire in me never died out. As I grew up, I became determined to make a difference and keep people safe.”

Bokuto listened intently, his eyes wide in awe. “Wow…” he said incredulously.

“And then… When my mother died, it just cemented everything into place. I wanted to make her proud, and I wanted her to love me as much as she loved her American action movies. So, I joined the police service in Tokyo, and I made sure to do everything in my power to be the best police officer I could be. Of course… That made the other officers in Tokyo look bad, and that’s why I was transferred to Kuzutari. Why did you become a police officer, Bokuto-san?”  
  
Bokuto smiled sheepishly in response, taking a long drink of his beer. “It’s certainly not as impressive of a backstory as yours. I just… My dad’s a police officer, and so was his dad, so I just felt kinda… Obligated, you know? I felt like it was my duty… Or even my destiny, as dumb as that sounds,” he admitted, and he bit his lip.

Akaashi smiled softly, squeezing Bokuto’s hand lightly. “Well, I’m glad you felt that way. If you hadn’t, we probably never would have become so close. And I wouldn’t have had the pleasure of having you as my partner,” he said kindly, and Bokuto’s face lit up in a blush.

Before he could stutter out a response, the noise of chairs scraping along the ground sounded, and Bokuto and Akaashi looked over to see Kuroo and Oikawa pulling chairs up to their table. Kuroo was beaming from ear to ear, and Oikawa was staring at the pair of police officers like a proud father.

“So, I see you two made up after your disagreement,” Kuroo said with a knowing sparkle in his eyes. He turned to Oikawa suddenly. “Looks like Daichi and Suga owe us some money.”

Akaashi frowned, pulling his hand from Bokuto’s and putting it in his lap. “Why do they owe you money?” he asked.

Oikawa looked at Akaashi, shrugging carelessly. “Because we had a station-wide betting pool going, and Tetsu-chan and I had bet that you two would get together within the month. So we win!”

Akaashi rolled his eyes, though there was hardly any anger behind the gesture. “You had a bet going as to when Bokuto-san and I would get together?”

Kuroo nodded. “Yep! And we won,” he said simply. “Daichi and Suga said that you would get together by the end of the year, and Yaku and Lev said that you wouldn’t get together until next year.”

Bokuto laughed weakly, and Akaashi noticed that the tips of his ears were pink. “Well… Congrats…” he said awkwardly.

Oikawa laughed loudly. “Tetsu-chan, it looks like we’re embarrassing the newly-weds. Maybe we should go and pester someone else and give these two some alone time,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively at Akaashi.

Kuroo sighed, standing up and ruffling Bokuto’s hair. “I knew you had it in you, Bokuto. I hope you’re happy together,” he said calmly, and he turned his attention to Akaashi. “Be good to him. Or else.”

With a benevolent wave from Oikawa, the two detectives departed, leaving Akaashi and Bokuto in their wake. Akaashi was sure that he was as red as a tomato, and as he looked over at Bokuto, he saw that the other man didn’t look any better.

“S-sorry about them,” Bokuto muttered, smiling shyly. “Kuroo’s always been like a brother to me, so he knew that I had feelings for you from the moment I even thought about it.”

Akaashi smiled softly, nodding understandingly. “It’s okay, Bokuto-san. He’s just looking out for you.”

“So!” Bokuto cried, and his signature grin was back in an instant. “Let’s go back to learning about each other. What’s your favorite thing to do?”

Akaashi pondered the question for a couple minutes before he decided on an answer. “I like to play the violin, though my old one was stolen a couple months ago. I haven’t saved up the money to buy a new one, but I would have to say that that’s my favorite thing to do. It’s very relaxing,” he said.

Bokuto’s eyes widened suddenly. “You play the violin? Oh, now I really want to hear you play! Maybe we can pool together our next couple paychecks and get you a new one!” he cried, and Akaashi immediately shook his head.

“No, Bokuto-san, I can’t have you spend your money on something so trivial. It’s fine, I’ll just start saving up some money from each of my paychecks.”

Bokuto let out a soft sigh, and he stuck out his bottom lip in a pout. “Fine. Be that way,” he said grumpily, and he crossed his arms over his chest.

Suddenly, Suga ran up to their table, an apologetic smile on his face. “Uh… Hi. Sorry to interrupt, but… We need your help. Makino Shimei is extremely drunk, and we need you two to escort him home.”

Akaashi frowned at the grey haired officer. “And you can’t take him how because…?”

Suga bit his lip. “Well, Bokuto, you live closer to Makino, so we figured it wouldn’t be too much of a nuisance.”

Bokuto mirrored Akaashi’s frown. “Who decided that we were leaving right now?” he asked challengingly.

“Listen,” Suga said with a sigh. “It wasn’t my decision. All of the other cops are too drunk to take him home, and you two are the most trustworthy to get him home in one piece. I’m sorry if it’s an inconvenience, but it’s the only choice we have. If he stays any longer, somebody could get hurt.”

Akaashi pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation for a few seconds before pushing himself to his feet. “Come on, Bokuto-san. Let’s go help Makino-san,” he said in a resigned tone, and he looked at Suga. “Will you lead us to him?”

Suga nodded once and then led the two officers to the other side of the bar. “As a thank you, I’ll pay for your drinks,” he said as they walked. Akaashi and Bokuto nodded their thanks, and Suga led them up to a man who was leaning up against the wall, his eyes lidded. He was swaying even though he was leaning against the wall for support, and Daichi was standing next to him, presumably to catch him if he fell.

Daichi looked up upon their arrival, and he grinned brightly. “Oh, thank goodness you can take him. I don’t know how much more of this I can take.”

Akaashi let out a soft sigh, and he moved over to Makino, slinging one of the drunk man’s arms around his shoulder. He tried his best to ignore how absolutely vile Makino smelled, and once Makino’s other arm was looped around Bokuto’s shoulders, they carried him out of the bar, waving their goodbyes to all of the police officers in the bar. The night air was cold against Akaashi’s face, and he silently wished that he had worn the scarf that Bokuto had given him. _There’s no use whining about things that you can’t change,_ he reprimanded himself, and he walked in silence with Bokuto.

Bokuto led the way to Makino’s house, and upon arrival, Akaashi gasped in awe. Makino’s house was two or three times the size of any of the other houses Akaashi had seen in Kuzutari, and the lot that it was perched on was gigantic. As they made their way up the long driveway to the front door, they let Makino stagger away from them, and he turned around and faced the two of them.

“How much do I owe you?” he slurred at Bokuto, blinking slowly.

“2500 yen,” Bokuto said, and Akaashi frowned disapprovingly as Makino hand the man his money.

Akaashi grabbed the money from Bokuto and immediately handed it back to Makino. “And there’s your change,” he said simply, still frowning at Bokuto.

Makino grinned and pocketed his money, and he waved a final goodbye before entering his house. Once Akaashi was sure that Makino was safely inside his house, he turned and walked back to the main street with Bokuto. He let Bokuto guide him back to Bokuto’s house (conveniently forgetting to tell Bokuto how utterly lost he was in such an unfamiliar part of town), and when they stopped outside of Bokuto’s house, Akaashi realized with a start that he was going to have to say goodbye to Bokuto for the night.

“Well, Bokuto-san… Thank you for coming to the bar tonight, even if we didn’t get to stay for very long. I guess I’ll see you tom-”

“Please come inside and stay,” Bokuto interrupted. When the words left his mouth, a blush spread across his cheeks, and he looked down at his feet. “I mean… Only if you want to.”

Akaashi bit his lip, smiling weakly. “I most certainly wouldn’t mind staying for a little while longer.”

Bokuto beamed at Akaashi, and he quickly grabbed the raven-haired man’s hand and dragged him inside the house. Without so much as a sound, Bokuto sat Akaashi down on one of the couches in the living room and disappeared into another room. While he waited patiently, Akaashi marveled silently about how much had happened in one day. He had never anticipated such a full day when he had left his hotel room that morning, and he surely hadn’t anticipated his relationship with Bokuto blossoming as much as it had.

Bokuto’s return to the room tore Akaashi’s attention away from his thoughts, and he looked up to see his partner holding a case of beer. “Here, help yourself!” he cried, and he moved to the side of the room. As Akaashi watched him, he noticed a closet that had escaped his notice before. Bokuto threw open the doors to the closet, revealing an extensive arsenal of movies, and Akaashi gasped in disbelief and awe.  
  
“Which movie should we watch?” Bokuto called from the closet, and Akaashi frowned.

“I don’t know which movies you have, and besides, I hardly know any movies by name. You pick,” he replied, and he saw Bokuto shrug.

Bokuto emerged, shutting the closet doors gently, and he moved over to the television, where he inserted one of the movies that he had chosen into the DVD player. Then, once the movie started up, he plopped down on the couch beside Akaashi, close enough that their knees knocked together, and he wrapped his arm around Akaashi’s shoulder happily.

“Say, Akaashi,” Bokuto mused as he grabbed a can of beer. “I know you said that you don’t want to go too fast, but… You did say that we can kiss, right? You just didn’t want to kiss around other people?”

Akaashi turned his head so that he met Bokuto’s gaze, and he smiled knowingly at him. “Maybe I was just saying that so that you didn’t throw a temper tantrum in the middle of the bar. Maybe I want to go so slow that we’re practically still just friends.”

Bokuto’s eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, and he stared at Akaashi with a horrified expression. “Wait, but Akaashi! You told me that you had feelings for me, too! Why would you want to continue acting like just friends?!” he cried.

At the sight of Bokuto acting so helpless, Akaashi burst out laughing, and he grabbed his stomach as mirth ripped itself from his gut. “I was… kidding, Bokuto-san,” he said in between chuckles, and he wiped the start of tears from his eyes. “We can kiss.”

Bokuto’s face lit up like a thousand suns, and if Akaashi hadn’t just witnessed his panic, there would have been no way to tell that Bokuto hadn’t been that happy for hours on end. He leaned forward, kissing Akaashi tentatively, and he moved one hand up to the back of Akaashi’s head, winding his fingers in Akaashi’s small curls.

Akaashi grabbed Bokuto’s flannel, playing with the fabric with his fingers, and he kissed Bokuto back, making sure that the other man knew that he felt just as strongly about their relationship (or lack thereof; he wasn’t entirely sure). He scooted a little closer to Bokuto, their hips pressing into each other even more, and he let out a soft hum of approval at the small bit of contact.

It was a simple, closed-mouth kiss, until Bokuto decided to feel daring, and his snaked his hand down and squeezed Akaashi’s ass as if it were nothing new. At the sensation, Akaashi nearly jumped out of his skin, pulling away from Bokuto and staring at him with a mouth open slightly in surprise.

“Did… Sorry. Was that not okay? I’m sorry,” Bokuto stuttered, his cheeks red. “I just thought… I thought it would be okay, but I didn’t think. I’m so stupid; please don’t get mad. I won’t do it again! I was just-”

“Bokuto-san!” Akaashi cried before Bokuto could continue. He leaned forward, cupping his hands around Bokuto’s jaw, and he stared into the man’s amber eyes. “It’s okay. You just scared me, that’s all. I’m not mad, and you don’t have to stop. I just wasn’t expecting it. You’re not stupid, alright?”

Bokuto bit his lip shyly, smiling weakly. “Alright. Does that mean I have permission to touch your butt?”

Akaashi laughed softly and pulled his hand away from Bokuto’s face. “Sure… You can touch my butt if you’d like.”

The movie began in the background, but it was simple white noise to Akaashi and Bokuto leaned in to kiss him again, and this time, Akaashi met him halfway there. Immediately, Bokuto’s hand slid down to cup the curve of Akaashi’s ass, but this time the sergeant didn’t pull away or react in the slightest.

After a minute or two of slow kissing, Bokuto mumbled against Akaashi’s lips. “How slow is taking it slow?”

Akaashi laughed into the kiss, thinking Bokuto’s question over before finally answering back in a mumble as well. “I just don’t want to go all the way yet, okay? We haven’t even had an official first date,” he reminded him, and Bokuto nodded, breaking the kiss and delivering kisses all the way down until he was kissing Akaashi’s neck.

Akaashi tilted his head to the side, and he suddenly grinned mischievously. He reached down and pulled Bokuto’s flannel off, running his hands along Bokuto’s clothed torso, marveling at the fact that he could still feel Bokuto’s defined abs even through his shirt. “C-Can I do something to you?” he asked, pulling back so that he could see Bokuto’s face. “I… I want to try and do something.”

Bokuto frowned thoughtfully, looking Akaashi up and down. “Are you’re saying you want to get me off? That’s what you want?” Akaashi nodded quickly, surprised that the whole situation wasn’t embarrassing him. Bokuto shrugged, smiling, and he took his shirt off. “Do you want to try giving me a blowjob?”

Biting his lip, Akaashi nodded, and he looked down at himself. “Do you want me to take off my shirt, too?”

Bokuto shrugged and reached over, pulling off Akaashi’s hoodie and t-shirt, grinning. “You could strip down to your boxers and really make my day.”

Akaashi scoffed playfully and obliged, pulling his khaki skinny jeans off and tossing them on the floor, and Bokuto followed suit and mirrored his movements. Then, suddenly, Bokuto reached up and grabbed the back of Akaashi’s neck and pulled him down into a crushing kiss, and Akaashi fought to keep it up when he had never kissed someone so passionately.

The two of them laid back, Bokuto pulling Akaashi on top of him, their arms locked around each other as they continued kissing, occasionally grinding their hips on each other’s thighs. Finally, when Akaashi couldn’t take it anymore, he pulled away from Bokuto, glancing down at the other man thoughtfully. He hooked his fingers in the waistband of Bokuto’s boxers, pulling them off in a single, fluid motion, and he blushed at the sight of Bokuto being completely hard. He pulled off his own underwear, deciding to be nice and fair to Bokuto, and he leaned down to kiss and nip at Bokuto’s thighs teasingly.

“A-Akaashi…” Bokuto whined, trying to buck his hips, but Akaashi held him down firmly. “Don’t be mean to me!”

Akaashi looked up at him, grinning innocently. “Oh, you mean… This isn’t where you want my mouth?” he asked.

“You asshole,” Bokuto grunted, clenching and unclenching his fists at his sides. “Of course it’s not! Don’t be like this the first time that we do something like this!”

With a shrug, Akaashi moved up, kissing all over Bokuto’s torso, occasionally nipping at the skin and leaving tiny bruises. He grazed his teeth over the taut skin on Bokuto’s abs, and when he heard Bokuto’s breath hitch, he looked down to see his length just barely touching Bokuto’s. He decided silently to give Bokuto what he wanted and kissed his way down to Bokuto’s cock, licking his tip repeatedly in short licks. The sound of Bokuto’s gasps and soft moans filled Akaashi’s ears, and he felt his cock twitch against Bokuto’s thigh, and he sighed softly in content. He could listen to the sounds that Bokuto made for the rest of his life and be more than satisfied.

He slowly inched his tongue down Bokuto’s length, moving slower than Bokuto wanted but not agonizingly slow, and he took his time tracing his tongue over the veins on the bottom of Bokuto’s cock before he got to the base, swirling his tongue around in a rather obscene fashion. He lifted his gaze to meet Bokuto’s, and the simple gesture drew a long moan from Bokuto’s lips. Then, he lifted back, sucking the tip of Bokuto’s length into his mouth, flicking the tip of his tongue around and catching the small beads of precum that leaked from the end of Bokuto’s cock. As Bokuto’s gasps and grunts grew in volume, Akaashi moved more of Bokuto into his mouth, slowly and steadily swallowing more of him until his mouth was full. Still moving his tongue around as much as he could, he grabbed what he couldn’t fit into his mouth of Bokuto’s length and massaged him.

The sounds that Bokuto was making made Akaashi whine around the cock in his mouth, and when he couldn’t take it anymore, he pulled back, leaving Bokuto rock hard and throbbing. He smiled reassuringly at Bokuto, silently telling him that he wasn’t finished, and he grabbed Bokuto’s cock in his hand, pumping his fist slowly while he leaned forward closer to Bokuto.

“H-have you ever done this b-before?” Bokuto choked out.

Akaashi shrugged nonchalantly, pumping his hand a little bit faster as he spoke. “I’ve had a few one night stands in my time, yeah. But even what little time has passed is already my favorite so far. No one’s ever been as good as you, Bokuto-san,” he said honestly, and suddenly, Bokuto leaned up and kissed him roughly once more.

Bokuto, once Akaashi was kissing him back just as quickly, nibbled at Akaashi’s bottom lip, drawing a low groan from the younger man. Akaashi felt Bokuto’s cock twitch in his hand, and before Bokuto even had a chance to mutter a warning, a warm liquid covered Akaashi’s hand. The raven-haired man looked down to see Bokuto’s hips stuttering wildly, his abs convulsing as he came without any warning.

Akaashi gently massaged Bokuto’s length through his orgasm, and when Bokuto had finally finished, he pulled his hand away and sat up so that he was kneeling in between Bokuto’s thighs.

Bokuto grinned at him, panting softly. “What do you say I repay you for that wonderful gift you gave me?”

~~~~~~

_Makino walked into his house, stumbling through the tall, long hallways. The house was dark, but he was too drunk to focus long enough to turn on the lights, so he simply staggered along until he found his fridge. He opened it up and grabbed a beer, not that he needed another one, and he quickly began drinking it. Then, deciding that he needed to go to the bathroom, he walked around, trying to remember where the damn room was._

_When he walked out of the kitchen, however, was met with a large person, dressed in all black, including a black ski mask. They quickly swung a large bat, aiming right for his forehead, and he was much too intoxicated to prepare, so the attack hit its target right on. Makino crumpled to the ground, never to get up again, and the murderer quickly picked him up and drug him back into the kitchen._

_The killer opened Makino’s fridge, and they carefully turned the stove on, and they began to prepare a simple meal of ramen. It was when the gas of the oven was turned on high that the murderer fled the scene, leaving the house to explode, taking all evidence of the murder with it._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr || bokutotrash.tumblr.com


	7. Birthday Boy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, shit. First of all, I am so sorry for the lack of posting these past couple months. With the holiday season, you would have thought that I would have had lots of time on my hands to finish this chapter up, but no matter how many times I sat down to write, there always seemed to be this plague in my mind that sucked all of my inspiration away. But alas! I have prevailed and am here to present to you the seventh chapter of Hot Fuzz Revisited, and I know it probably isn't going to be worth the wait, but I promise that I'll try my damnedest to keep up and not go two more months before the next chapter is posted. Again, thank you so much for your patience, and thank you for coming back. :)
> 
> As always, if you have any questions or comments, please contact me via the comments section or my Tumblr, which will be linked at the end of the chapter.
> 
> Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy your stay!

“Hey, Akaashi… Would now be a bad time to make a pun?”

Akaashi glanced over at Bokuto, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Why do you think it would be a good idea to make a pun in this situation?” he challenged.

“This situation” happened to be the remains of Makino Shimei’s house, which had been completely burned to the ground. The massive downpour of rain was making smoke billow from the sight of the tragedy as Akaashi stared at the house that he had just visited the previous night with Bokuto, his head swimming with the fact that something so tragic had happened in the blink of an eye. Yaku and Suga, who had met Bokuto and Akaashi at the scene, approached the gate, shaking their heads softly at the sight of the catastrophe.

“What a terrible accident,” Suga muttered, and Akaashi internally cringed at his choice of words.

Akaashi turned to his fellow officers, trying to word his sentence so that none of them became defensive. “Would anyone like to be the devil’s advocate and think of a way that this might not be an accident?” He raised an eyebrow, ignoring the way that Yaku rolled his eyes.

Bokuto grinned brightly, raising his hand like a grade-schooler in front of his favorite teacher. When Akaashi looked at him pointedly, he immediately began to speak. “Somebody could have set the house on fire and purposefully made it so that a kitchen appliance started the fire, which would make it appear to be an accidental fire rather than arson!” he concluded, beaming brighter than a thousand suns.

Suga kept his expression schooled, but Akaashi could tell by the subtle twitch of the line of his lips that he was irritated with the thought of having to investigate a murder. Yaku, however, was much less composed, and he immediately voiced his objection.

“Great, now Sergeant Akaashi has brainwashed Bokuto into thinking these aren’t accidents as well,” he growled, kicking a rock. “Listen, the firefighters who appeared at the scene knew what they were doing! Who are we to question them?”

The sound of approaching footsteps captured Akaashi’s attention before he was able to retort to his fellow officer, and he turned his head to see Oikawa and Kuroo approaching them. Akaashi let out a disgruntled scoff at the sight of the two quarrelsome detectives, but he felt Bokuto’s hand clap on his shoulder reassuringly and immediately calmed down slightly.

“Tragic accident, eh, officers?” Oikawa commented as nonchalantly as if he were talking about the weather. “What a shame.”

Akaashi opened his mouth to speak, but he was surprisingly cut short by the sound of Bokuto’s voice. “It doesn’t look like just an accidental fire. We should look for any signs of arson,” he said seriously, staring at the detectives austerely.

To Akaashi’s surprise, it was Kuroo who responded to Bokuto. “Bo, I don’t know what Akaashi’s been telling you, but listen to reason. Firefighters, who get paid to do this kind of thing, ruled it an accident, and besides, there hasn’t been a case of arson ever before in Kuzutari,” he said patiently, but Akaashi could hear a small bit of irritation in his words.

He decided that it was time to take matters into his own hands, and he stepped forward, his eyes narrowing at the taller detective. “Just because there’s never been arson in Kuzutari before doesn’t mean that this isn’t. There’s a first for everything. And in regards to the firefighters, have you considered the fact that they might be just as lazy as you and automatically assume that everything is an accident?” he spat.

Immediately, Akaashi knew that he had pushed the detective too far. Kurro surged forward, grabbing the fabric of Akaashi’s shirt, and he growled menacingly, “We are not lazy. We do what we’re asked. The fact that you like to try and make everything a big deal doesn’t make the rest of us slackers. This isn’t Tokyo, and it never will be! The sooner you realize that, the better it will be for everyone!”

Bokuto quickly intervened, pulling Kuroo away from Akaashi, and he pulled Akaashi away from the other officers. While Akaashi straightened his shirt and composed himself, Bokuto spoke softly and soothingly. “Akaashi, maybe it’s best for us to go home. I think that the lack of sleep we got last night is making you irritable, and it’s not going to help anyone when all this arguing keeps happening. Let’s just go home.”

“Fine,” Akaashi grunted, and he grabbed Bokuto’s hand, pulling him to the police car that promised sanctuary from the apathetic police service of Kuzutari.

~~~~~~

“It just doesn’t make sense,” Akaashi growled, rubbing at the bags under his eyes. “Four murders in a month? That doesn’t scream accident to me. They have to be connected. But how?!”

The mid-morning sun filtered in through the station window, and Akaashi stared at the outside world longingly. He and Bokuto had been cooped up inside since the previous day when they had left the scene of Makino’s house, and neither of them had slept a minute. Both of the officers had been hellbent on finding a connection between the four murders, but now that their lack of sleep was finally catching up on them, both Akaashi and Bokuto weren’t as determined.

The sound of a door opening and closing snapped Akaashi back to reality as his tired eyes threatened to close, and he looked up frantically to see Suga entering the station with bags of food in his hands.

“With the way you two were acting yesterday when we all left, I figured you hadn’t eaten, so I stopped by and got you something on my way here. I hope you like what I grabbed,” the grey-haired officer said as he placed the food in front of Akaashi and Bokuto, a caring smile stretching his lips.

Using his actions as thanks, Akaashi dove into the food, scrambling to shove any morsel he could into his mouth. Bokuto mirrored his actions, and Akaashi laughed softly at the ravenous gesture his boyfriend was making. _Boyfriend,_ he thought to himself. _I told Bokuto two days ago that I didn’t want to take things too fast… But calling him my boyfriend just seems natural. Maybe we should make it official._

“Oh, and happy birthday, Bokuto. 25 now, huh?”

Akaashi looked at Bokuto with wide eyes, his mouth slightly agape. It was Bokuto’s birthday, and he had gone the night before without sleeping just to help him? Bokuto smiled shyly at Suga, and he opened his mouth to respond, but a large crash from the doorway captured his attention and interrupted his thanks.

Akaashi looked over at where Bokuto was staring, and his jaw dropped even more. The entire police service, including Konosuke, was circled around a cake that was frosted with the words “Happy Birthday Koutarou!!!” and numerous small owls. With a chorus of “Happy Birthday”, the police officers and two detectives brought the cake over to Bokuto, who was still looking rather embarrassed by the whole ordeal.

“Bokuto-san… Why didn’t you say anything?!” Akaashi cried, distressed by the fact that he had made his partner work through his own birthday.

Bokuto shrugged softly. “We were having fun, weren’t we?”

In a split second, Akaashi made up his mind, and he pushed himself to his feet, grabbing his notepad from the table and hurrying to leave the room. As he was heading out the door, Bokuto called out, “Akaashi! Where are you going?”

The raven-haired sergeant whirled around, a determined grin on his face. “To buy something for my boyfriend.”

With that, Akaashi turned and ran out of the building, set on finding Morine Yasuke’s nursery to buy Bokuto a wisteria bonsai to match his own. _This is the cheesiest thing you've ever done, Keiji,_ he told himself as he jogged down the street. _Maybe if you had taken the time to stop and think, you would have actually considered a better present for Bokuto-san._

After a few minutes of running with an incredibly annoying inner voice yelling at him for being a bad boyfriend, Akaashi finally arrived at the small building labelled “Morine’s Flowers”. Despite it being around noon, the shop looked like it was closed, and Akaashi walked up to the glass windows and rapped his fingers on the surface to get Morine’s attention. Luckily, the round-faced older woman was in her shop, and she came quickly to the door upon finding a police officer waiting for her.

“Sergeant Akaashi!” she cried, ushering him inside. “What on earth can I help you with?”

Akaashi looked around the shop, noticing the many “for sale” and “clearance” signs. “Are you going somewhere, Morine-san?” he asked casually.

The old woman shrugged softly and followed his gaze around the shop. “I’m moving. It was a bit of a heat-of-the-moment thing, but now that it’s all in full swing, I’m rather excited to go. Now, is there something I can help you find?”

“Do you have any wisteria bonsais?” Akaashi asked, and he couldn’t help the blush that spread over his cheeks, though he knew Morine had absolutely no idea how he was buying for.

“Of course!” she squeaked, and she hurried off so quickly that Akaashi had no choice but to stand by the register and wait for the florist’s return. After a few minutes of distant clanging and loud, ominous crashes, Morine finally reappeared, much to Akaashi’s relief, clutching a wisteria bonsai in her hands. “Aren’t you just a lucky boy, Sergeant?”

Akaashi beamed happily, watching as Morine grabbed some scissors to wrap a bow around the pot of the tree. “Thank you so much, Morine-san. This means so much to me.”

The old woman cocked an eyebrow, staring at him knowingly. “Oh, I see. Is this for somebody special?”

“Yes.” Akaashi was surprised at the lack of hesitation that came with his answer, but he tried his best to school his features and act like he wasn’t fazed at all. Deciding to cut the conversation short so that Morine couldn’t ask any invasive questions, Akaashi decided to change the subject. “So, why the move, Morine-san? Don’t you like Kuzutari?”

“Well, you see, Makino Shimei wanted to buy the land that my shop is on, so he sent his legal friend Hattori Takuro to come and talk to me. I thought I might take them up on it since I’ve been debating moving for quite some time - I don’t have much family around here save for my cousin Takara. It turns out, though, that Hattori knew about a new bypass that was going in because he was having an affair with Konya Rumi, who was on the city council. And then, Adachi Mochihido, the journalist, found out about the bypass and told me that my land is very valuable. In fact, it’s ten times more valuable than what I was offered by Makino and Hattori. So I decided to sell the land myself and earn the money, and I figure that my land will be turned to a supermarket, though I doubt Takara will be too happy to hear that.”

Akaashi’s eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as realization washed over him. He had finally found his link between all of the murders. “Morine-san,” he said quickly, “please excuse me.”

With that, Akaashi rushed out to his police car, grabbing his cellphone to call Bokuto, his fingers shaking due to how excited he was. While his fingers glided over the buttons, however, the raven-haired sergeant was completely oblivious to the scene that was laying itself out behind him.

Morine was finishing up wrapping the wisteria bonsai for Bokuto when a tall, cloaked figure approached her and snatched the scissors that Morine had used to cut the bow. Then, without giving the old woman any time to react, the masked villain sunk the scissors into the tender flesh of Morine’s neck, and she fell to the ground dead in an instant, her head hitting the window with a dull thud.

That thud, though quite gruesome a sound, was what captured Akaashi’s attention right as Bokuto picked up, and he whirled around to see the shopkeeper that he had just been conversing with lying dead on the ground. He also saw the murderer, who still clutched the scissors in their hands, and without stopping to think for even a second, Akaashi threw his baton at the shop door, shattering it before he ran inside, hellbent on capturing the killer in the act.

“Stop right there!” Akaashi bellowed after the figure, but unsurprisingly, there was no response.

The cloaked figure ran through the store, exiting through a side door that led out to a gardening center, and Akaashi was right on their heels. The two of them wound through the aisles, the murder’s lead never swaying, until finally they came to the end of the building. With no hesitation in the slightest, the killer smashed through the glass side of the building, and though they stumbled, they still remained ahead of Akaashi. The officer jumped through the hole in the glass after the culprit, but by the time he turned the corner, he was met with the sight of the black cloak swaying over a league away. He knew that there was no way to catch the killer. He had to give up.

~~~~~~

It was only when Akaashi walked into the police station that he realized that he had been trying to call Bokuto before he was interrupted by his chase after Morine’s killer. Bokuto rushed up to Akaashi, grabbing the sergeant’s face and inspecting him closely. “Akaashi!” he cried brokenly, and Akaashi noticed that Bokuto’s eyes were slightly swollen, as if he had been crying. “There you are; I’ve been worried sick about you. Where have you been? I got a call from you, but then you didn’t answer and I heard yelling in the background and then the call disconnected and then you wouldn’t pick up when I called and-”

Akaashi leaned forward slowly, pressing his lips gently to Bokuto’s, and he brought his hands up to rest over Bokuto’s. “Bokuto-san,” he mumbled against the police officer’s lips, “I’m fine. My phone just died. Just calm down and I’ll explain everything that happened.”

Suddenly, Kuroo’s voice washed over Akaashi’s ears. “Well, I think we’ll all be interested to hear where you ran away from Bokuto’s birthday party to.”

Akaashi pulled back from Bokuto, a light blush sprinkled on his cheeks, and he looked over his partner’s shoulder to see Kuroo, Oikawa, and the rest of the police service staring at him expectantly. Akaashi, however, was in no mood to hear his new findings argued with after such an exhausting day, and he grabbed Bokuto’s hand, tugging on it lightly. “Can we just go home? I can say everything tomorrow when I’ve had a night to think it all over. I honestly think I’m still in a bit of shock,” he confessed, rubbing the back of his neck bashfully with his free hand.

He saw Kuroo and Oikawa roll their eyes in sync, but he chose to ignore it and looked over to Konosuke, who was watching the both of them critically. _Shit,_ Akaashi realized, _Bokuto probably hasn’t told his father that we’re a thing… Well, I guess he knows now._ “You may go,” Konosuke said flatly, and Akaashi wished that his commanding officer would give him a hint as to whether or not he had done a bad thing by being publicly affectionate towards Bokuto. “Just report back tomorrow with a full report of whatever incidents occurred this afternoon.”

Not needing to be told twice, Akaashi yanked Bokuto out of the station by the hand, and the two of them began walking towards Bokuto’s house. “So… Boyfriend, huh?” Bokuto teased as they got far enough away from the police station.

Akaashi’s blush returned, and he looked anywhere but Bokuto’s eyes. “Well… Why not? I mean… After the other night, I just assumed that the title fit, you know?”

Bokuto’s laugh filled Akaashi’s ears, and the sergeant turned to see his partner smiling as brightly as a thousand suns. “So, I’m assuming you didn’t get that present you set out to get because you were interrupted?”

“No,” Akaashi admitted glumly. “It’ll be impounded into evidence since it was at the scene of the murder, so… I’m sorry, Bokuto-san… I don’t have a birthday present for you.”

The taller police officer shrugged, pulling his hand from Akaashi’s and wrapping his arm around the raven-haired man’s shoulders. “Hey hey hey! You and I officially being boyfriends and being public with all of the station is a good enough present for me!” he cried, and Akaashi smiled softly at his reassuring words.

When they arrived in Bokuto’s home, Akaashi immediately flopped down on the couch in the living room, and he took off his shoes and let out a long, heavy sigh. Bokuto sat down next to him slowly, and Akaashi heard a quiet gasp come from beside him - almost too quiet for the sergeant to hear. He turned to see Bokuto staring at his leg in horror, and he followed his boyfriend’s gaze until he saw what exactly had ripped the gasp from Bokuto’s throat.

His pants were black, but even still, there was a large red stain on them, and as Akaashi lifted his pant leg up, he realized that he hadn’t come out of the chase completely unscathed. There was a large gash traveling up his shin, and it was bleeding steadily, though the wound itself didn’t seem to be very deep. _I must have gotten that jumping through the glass_ , he thought to himself, and he lifted his eyes to look at Bokuto.

The amber eyes of his partner were fixed on his leg, and he was staring open-mouthed as he inspected the wound from a distance. “Akaashi…” he said softly, and his gaze lifted until the two police officers were staring at each other. “What happened today?”

Akaashi took a deep breath, and he began to recount all of what had happened to him from the moment that he had entered Morine’s nursery. The tale was told over a slightly long period of time because at one point Bokuto made Akaashi stop while he tended to the cut on his leg, but eventually, Akaashi finished his story around dinnertime.

“So… What you’re saying is… You found the link between all the murder victims, but your only witness was murdered right before your eyes, and then you chased the murderer, but then they got away? And you think Takara is the culprit because he didn’t want any competition to buy Morine’s land?” Bokuto asked slowly, making sure he didn’t leave any details out.  
  
Akaashi nodded once, laying his head back on the couch cushion and staring up at the ceiling. “Yes, that’s what I’m saying… Now all that’s left is to tell the rest of the station and your father and hope they believe me that Takara’s behind all of this,” he said in a melancholy tone, and he closed his eyes. The next day was going to be a long day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr || bokutotrash.tumblr.com


	8. Betrayal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All I have to say for this is:
> 
> I'm sorry.

“Morine Yasuke was _fucking_ murdered!”

The sound of the word “fuck” escaping Akaashi’s lips turned all of the heads in the police station. Konosuke, who had been speaking in a hushed tone with the two detectives, whirled around at the sudden intrusion, and his eyes narrowed slightly at the sight of the new sergeant.

“Sergeant Akaashi,” he mused, moving over to where both Akaashi and Bokuto stood. “So glad you’ve managed to compose yourself and grace us with your presence.”

It was early in the morning the day after Bokuto’s birthday, and both of the police officers had been adamant to arrive early in the morning to retell the story of Akaashi encounters in Morine’s nursery the previous day, since they both knew that there was a lot to get done. Akaashi planned on revealing his entire connection, and then he was going to forcefully drag Konosuke and the two detectives down to Takara’s store to witness his triumph and the end to this long battle.

“And what an entrance you’ve made,” Kuroo mumbled under his breath, but loudly enough for Akaashi to hear. The sergeant decided to ignore the remark.

“Morine Yasuke was murdered, and I can prove it. I saw it because _I was there_ . She was murdered by a person - man or female, I don’t know - right in front of my own eyes with the scissors she was using to wrap a bow around my present,” Akaashi said vehemently, blushing lightly at the confession to getting Bokuto a present at a nursery. “The murderer then fled the scene upon realizing that I had witnessed the crime, and I gave chase, only to be outrun. The thing is, Morine Yasuke confided in me some secrets about why she was moving out of town, and with the information I was given, I can connect all of the _murders_ that have taken place since I was stationed here in Kuzutari almost a month ago.

Morine told me that the reason she was moving was because Makino Shimei - the man whose house was blown up - wanted to buy Morine’s land, and he was working with Hattori Takuro - the actor who died in a car accident - to get his hands on it. Hattori, who was a person who dealt with legal affairs, knew about a new bypass that was going to be built because he was having an affair with Konya Rumi, the other victim of the fatal car crash. Then, Adachi Mochihido - the journalist murdered at the fair - found out about the bypass and Morine’s land, which Hattori hadn’t informed Morine about, and its value, so Morine decided to sell the land herself and earn the money. And it all was going to work out since she had been planning to move out soon since her only relative in this part of the country is Takara Toshinobu. And she figured that her land would be turned into a supermarket, which Takara won’t take lightly.”

It was once Akaashi finished talking that Bokuto stepped forward, staring his father in the eyes. “Akaashi’s right, Dad. He called me as soon as Morine told him all of the information he just told you, and his call was interrupted by Morine’s murder. I heard Akaashi yell at the murderer and run after them. I can vouch for Akaashi and place him at the crime scene, which makes him a viable witness.” Bokuto crossed his arms over his chest, and Akaashi felt his heart swell in his chest at the sound of his boyfriend standing by his side against his own father.

There were a few minutes of agonizing silence as the entire station full of officers pondered Akaashi’s report, and finally, it was Konosuke who spoke first. “What do you expect us to do with this information, Sergeant?” he said dangerously slow, and Akaashi would have been scared if the adrenaline running through his veins hadn’t been present.

“I wish to take you and the two detectives and Bokuto-san down to Takara’s store and confront him with the evidence and see what he has to say for himself,” Akaashi said firmly, setting his jaw to show Konosuke that he wasn’t about to take no for an answer.  
  
After a few more minutes of quiet, Konosuke turned to Kuroo and Oikawa, an exasperated look on his face. “Well,” he said, “you heard the man. To Takara’s store it is.”

~~~~~~

“Ah, the greater half of the police force. To what do I owe the pleasure?” Takara cooed, staring at Akaashi with a knowing smirk on his face.

Akaashi stepped forward, brandishing his handcuffs. “Takara Toshinobu, I’m arresting you on suspicion of the murders of Morine Yasuke-”

“Yasuke is dead? How?” Takara interrupted, his eyes wide in horror.

“She tripped and fell on her own scissors,” Oikawa muttered, and Akaashi grabbed a pen from Takara’s desk and threw it at the detective, hitting him in between the eyes. “Ow…”

“I’m also arresting you for the murders of Hattori Takuro, Konya Rumi, Makino Shimei, and Adachi Mochihido,” Akaashi said firmly.

Takara rolled his eyes, looking between Akaashi, the detectives, and Konosuke. Akaashi tried not to become upset over how blatantly Takara was ignoring Bokuto. “Now, Sergeant, why on Earth would I commit all of those murders?”

With a wicked grin, Akaashi leaned forward, resting both of his hands on Takara’s desk. “Oh, I’m so very glad you asked. Upon the deaths of Hattori and Konya, I couldn’t help but recall how the previous night at the afterparty, you had not only indicated your awareness of the couple’s affair, but you also inferred that Konya’s connections in the city council might make her privy to important information. You yourself even spoke of ‘bashing her head in’. Perhaps hoping that you might discover the plans for the proposed Kuzutari Bypass. You were already suspicious that Hattori’s client Makino Shimei was buying up an area of land on the edge of the village, after a story Adachi Mochihido published in the local paper. You then put two and two together and realized the full value of Morine’s land and how it would be the ideal place to build a new supermarket. Concerned for your business, you killed the potential competition - in every aspect - in cold blood, staging all of the murders as accidents because you were well aware of the incompetency of the Kuzutari Police Service.”

“Unfortunately, Sergeant Akaashi, your theory has a few too many holes,” Takara replied evenly after Akaashi had finished his rant. “For one, I personally love the thought of competition, so the thought of a new supermarket certainly doesn’t give me homicidal notions. Secondly, I only said comments about beheading as what we on Planet Kuzutari call ‘jokes’. It’s rather unfortunate that you’ve never encountered any in your pathetic excuse of a life.” Suddenly, the tall storeowner stood, towering over Akaashi. “I’m afraid, Sergeant, that none of your wild fantasy means a single thing without hard proof, and as much as I would _loathe_ to prove you wrong, I have more than enough evidence to prove that I was here at the store most of the times that you say that I was out committing murders.”

Akaashi narrowed his eyes angrily. “if you’d be so kind, then, Takara-san, why don’t you put your leg up on the table here? You see, the culprit that I was chasing yesterday tripped and sliced his leg on some glass, so if you truly were there yesterday like I know you were, you would have a wound on your leg.”

Takara shrugged nonchalantly, sitting back down in his chair and pulling both pant legs up to his knees. To Akaashi’s horror, there wasn’t any sign of a wound on either of the storeowner’s legs. “My, my, Sergeant, this is beginning to become rather embarrassing. If you really don’t believe me still, you’re more than welcome to go through the numerous tapes of surveillance which prove that I was here doing my job rather than out staging accidents. It really was a pleasure doing business with you,” Takara hissed, smiling wickedly, and the only thing that kept Akaashi from leaping across the table and attacking Takara was Bokuto’s firm grip on his shoulder.

“Ah, ah, ah,” came Konosuke’s voice from behind him. “I wouldn’t bother lashing out, Sergeant. Instead, why don’t you go ahead and start watching some of Takara-san’s surveillance tapes? Maybe since you were so adamant as to drag us all down here, you must be adamant enough to go through hours of camera feed. Do have fun, Akaashi.”

With that, Konosuke walked out of the room, followed by Takara, and they exchanged pleasantries as they left. Akaashi stared at Takara’s desk lividly, breathing slowly and heavily, his temper about to snap. He saw Bokuto move in his peripheral vision, and he heard his boyfriend start talking to the detectives.

“Tetsurou… Why don’t you two leave? I don’t think your presence is needed here anymore, and I’m sure Sergeant Akaashi would prefer to watch the surveillance tapes without your company…” Bokuto said softly, and Akaashi heard the two detectives depart from the room without any verbal response.

“Well, Bokuto-san,” Akaashi said through gritted teeth. “I suppose I should start watching. It’s going to be a long day.”

~~~~~~

By the time that Akaashi had sat through every surveillance tape in Takara’s office (and been unsuccessful in finding any loophole in Takara’s alibi), it was evening and the sun was low in the sky. As Bokuto and Akaashi both exited the supermarket, Bokuto grabbed Akaashi’s hand and gently rubbed his thumb over the back of Akaashi’s hand in an attempt to soothe the officer after such an arduous day.

“Akaashi? Would you like to go and get some ice cream? We could both do with a break. It’s been a long day,” Bokuto said, and Akaashi appreciated his partner’s attempts to be calm and collected.

He smiled a tired smile at Bokuto and nodded softly. “I would love that, Bokuto-san. Let’s go get some ice cream.”

The two police officers made their way to the other shop, owned by Ishii Hisae, since they both silently agreed that getting as far away from Takara’s store was the best idea. The familiar chime of bells sounded as the pair entered the building, and Bokuto immediately grabbed two ice cream cones and began paying for them.

“No luck catching them killers, then?” Ishii asked curiously, and Akaashi frowned, turning to watch the exchange between the storeowner and Bokuto.

Bokuto shrugged nonchalantly, taking the paid-for ice creams from her. “It’s just the one killer, actually.”

Bokuto then led AKaashi out of the building, and Akaashi’s eyebrows stayed furrowed as he pondered over the conversation he had just witnessed. _“No luck catching those killers, then?” “It’s just the one killer, actually.”_

With a sudden flash of inspiration, Akaashi grabbed ahold of the front of Bokuto’s shirt, whirling him around and pinning him against the cop car. Bokuto’s eyes were wide with fear as he stared at Akaashi, clearly utterly surprised by Akaashi’s sudden outburst. “A-Akaashi? What’s going on?” he stuttered.

“Ishii-san said ‘killers’.”

Bokuto frowned deeply, his thick eyebrows furrowed in both fear and confusion. “Yes… She did…”

“ _Killers._ Plural, Bokuto-san,” Akaashi urged, tightening his grip on Bokuto’s shirt. “We’ve been going about this all wrong. What if it isn’t one killer at all? What if it’s multiple people working together?”

He let go of Bokuto’s shirt, stepping back and watching his boyfriend’s features closely. It took the amber eyed officer a couple of seconds, but he finally understood, and his mouth fell open in disbelief. “So, that explains why Takara knew about the deaths but was able to conveniently be at his store when they were committed! We have to go tell Dad!”

Without giving Akaashi the chance to object, Bokuto opened the door to the police car, ushering Akaashi inside, and then he climbed in, speeding off to the police station.

~~~~~~

“Sir, there’s more than one murderer,” Akaashi announced, storming into Konosuke’s office without any hesitation. Bokuto had stayed back with the detectives, telling them what was going on.

Konosuke looked up from his papers on his desk, an annoyed look on his face. “Oh, really?” he asked in a tone that made Akaashi want to reach across the desk and slap the older man in the face. “Just earlier today it was Takara. Who exactly is it now?”

Akaashi frowned. He hadn’t thought about who his new suspects were. “I don’t know, sir, but Bokuto-san and I were getting ice cream when I thought-”

Konosuke stood from his desk, staring at Akaashi so intensely that the sergeant immediately stopped talking. “Listen, Sergeant Akaashi. You’re an impeccable officer, but this is all too much for one day. You’re not used to the life of a small town, and your brain is playing tricks on you. Now, listen, I have somewhere I need to be, so why don’t you go ahead and take the rest of the day off? And I suggest you go home to your own hotel room. I think my son does nothing but remind you of the case, so some time away from him as well might do you some good.”

The green eyed sergeant wilted at his superior officer’s words, but he obliged anyways. “Yes, sir.”

Akaashi turned and left Konosuke’s office, and since he wasn’t dressed down in any of his police gear, he walked out of the station, not even looking over as Bokuto called his name. It wasn’t until he had walked about a block towards his hotel that he felt a hand on his shoulder, and Akaashi whirled around to see Bokuto less than a foot away, staring at him worriedly. “Akaashi, what happened? Is everything okay?”

“I’m fine, Bokuto-san. I’m just going to go home and get some rest,” Akaashi sighed softly.

Bokuto bit his lip, and Akaashi could tell that he knew that something else was going on, and he silently thanked his partner for not pushing the matter. “Oh,” he responded. “Well, can I at least walk you home?”

“No… I need some alone time. I’ll see you later, Bokuto-san.” Akaashi leaned forward and placed a fleeting kiss on Bokuto’s cheek before turning and walking away, trying to push away the guilty feeling that had settled in his heart. His back was to Bokuto, and he didn’t see the other detective visibly wilt and walk back towards the station, obviously hurt.

When Akaashi arrived at his hotel room, he was just about to use his key to unlock the door when he saw that the door was slightly ajar. Adrenaline rushed through him, and just as he began to back away from his room, the door flew open to reveal a massive cloaked figure. Before Akaashi could react, the cloaked person grabbed him and threw him into his room, and Akaashi hit the wall with a deafening thud before falling to the ground.

The attacker slammed and locked Akaashi’s door and then began to advance on the downed sergeant, but Akaashi didn’t stay down for long. He pushed himself to his feet, ignoring the aching in his ribs, and he launched himself at the cloaked figure, punching them repeatedly in the stomach, despite the fact that it seemed to be doing little to hinder the attacker.

The figure in black grabbed one of Akaashi’s hands, squeezing it painfully tight but not tightly enough to break anything, and they wrapped their arms around Akaashi in the most painful hug that he had ever endured. Luckily, the person hadn’t trapped Akaashi’s arms, and the sergeant used his free hands, though one was throbbing, to unmask his assailant.

He recognized at once that the man holding him tightly was one of the workers from Takara’s store, and he stared into the man’s eyes for a couple seconds before punching him directly in the nose, causing the man to drop Akaashi. With a swift kick, Akaashi aimed straight for the man’s groin, but to his dismay, it didn’t faze the man at all. The man immediately bent down and picked Akaashi up effortlessly, throwing him directly into one of the paintings on the wall, which shattered upon impact, and shattered glass rained down on Akaashi as he fell to the floor.

Takara’s worker stumbled towards him, a menacing look on his face, and Akaashi quickly grabbed the nearest thing to him and threw it with all of his might at the man. It was only when the man was hit with a stuffed owl that Akaashi realized what he had thrown: the prize that he had won for Bokuto at the town fair. The large man was momentarily distracted, and Akaashi seized his chance.

He grabbed his wisteria bonsai by the pot, and he brought it down with a sickening crack onto the man’s head, knocking him unconscious. As his body hit the floor, a walkie talkie from his belt crackled to life, and Akaashi picked it up to inspect it.

“Yagi?”

Akaashi’s eyes widened as Takara’s familiar voice sounded from the walkie talkie, and he realized that he was going to have to impersonate the man on the floor if he didn’t want Takara to suspect anything. He remember Bokuto telling him about the man on the floor, Yagi, and how he wasn’t completely right in the head and that he only responded in one word: “yarp”. Akaashi silently cheered and made a mental note to thank Bokuto for giving him the information that he hadn’t known he would need.

“Yarp?” Akaashi replied in a croaky voice, hoping desperately that it would suffice. _Maybe the walkie talkies are so static that he won’t be able to tell the difference…_

“Did you do it? Did you kill the sergeant?”

Akaashi swallowed thickly. “Yarp.”

“He’s not going to get up again?”

There was a moment of hesitation from Akaashi, and he closed his eyes tightly in fear. “Narp?”

“Good,” Takara responded, and Akaashi tried his best not to sigh loudly in relief. “Meet us at the castle where the fair takes place.”

With that, the walkie talkie disconnected, and Akaashi dropped his on the floor next to Yagi, his heart pounding uncontrollably in his chest. He shakily fished his phone from his pocket and immediately dialed Konosuke, looking around at the carnage in his room. When nobody picked up, he left a message. “Konosuke, shit just got real. I was attacked by Yagi, one of Takara’s employees, and I intercepted a call from Takara asking if I had been disposed of. Takara informed me that something’s going on at the castle, so I’m going to head there immediately. I don’t know who to trust. This is Akaashi, by the way.”

A knock sounded from the door as soon as Akaashi hung up, and the raven haired sergeant hesitantly made his way to the door, peeking to see who it was. To his relief, it was Bokuto. Akaashi flung open the door, and he was immediately enveloped in Bokuto’s strong arms. “Akaashi! You’re okay! What happened here?!”

Bokuto pulled back from him suddenly, gawking at the mess in the room behind Akaashi. Akaashi followed his gaze, letting out a long, shaky breath. “Bokuto-san, stay here. Watch him, tie him up, make sure he doesn’t get away. Call your dad, and tell him I was right,” he commanded, looking at Bokuto seriously.

“What? What are you going to do?” Bokuto asked weakly.

“I’m going to finish this once and for all.”

Bokuto didn’t say anything to respond, and he moved over to Akaashi’s bedside table silently. He returned in front of Akaashi with the sergeant’s notebook in his hand, and he slipped it into the front pocket on the left side of Akaashi’s shirt. “Be safe,” he mumbled, leaning forward to kiss Akaashi for a few seconds.

“I will, Koutarou.”

By the time that Bokuto realized that Akaashi had called him by his first name, the sergeant had already left the building.

~~~~~~

Akaashi ran. He ran and he ran, not caring about the fact that he had just been in a fight with someone much bigger and stronger than him. He had to find the castle. Since he had only been there once, he wasn’t sure exactly how to get there, but after around a half hour of searching, he finally saw a sign that read “Kuzutari Castle”, and his heart skipped a beat. Being careful as to make sure that he went unnoticed, Akaashi snuck through the castle grounds until he heard what sounded like low voices.

As he slunk into one of the main corridors of the castle, it became apparent that the low voices that he had heard were the sound of chanting, though in what language the speakers were reciting, Akaashi had no idea. He poked his head around the corner, making sure that he wouldn’t be spotted. In the room, he saw a table, and around it sat 12 people, and the closer that Akaashi looked, the clearer it became.

The people sitting around the table were the members of the NWA.

Akaashi swallowed thickly, looking around at the numerous familiar faces, and he was silently thankful that none of the members of the police service were at the ominous table. The sound of Takara’s voice boomed throughout the room, and Akaashi had a small sense of deja vu at the words that came from the storekeeper. “Now, a quick announcement before we begin. Shoji Akoto has decided to name her twins Seiji and Tekkan. Endo?”

Akaashi’s attention shifted to Endo Shiba, who was the local religious leader. “Thank you, Takara. You’ll be pleased to know that the tenacious Sergeant Akaashi has been taken care of. Thanks must go to Takara and his workers for this. Our very own Nonaka Natsuko will discover the officer tomorrow morning slumped on the wet floor of his hotel bathroom, having slipped in the shower and tragically broken his neck. Nakehara Takechi, our faithful doctor, will take it from there. With Sergeant Akaashi gone, we will now be able to focus on ridding the town of all of the delinquents that would keep us from getting the Village of the Year award.”

“I beg to differ, Takara.”

The NWA members all whirled around to see Akaashi standing a few feet from their table, and Akaashi stared deliberately straight at Takara. “I see we have a guest,” Takara cooed, smirking.

“Akaashi Keiji. Kuzutari Police Service,” Akaashi said steadily, brandishing his badge.

Takara laughed softly, glancing around at the other people around him. “My, he certainly is tenacious, isn’t he?”

Akaashi took a deep breath and let it out slowly, making sure that he stayed calm. “I’m placing you all under arrest for the suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder.”

He saw multiple members at the table roll their eyes, but he paid them no mind. “Oh, Akaashi…” Takara sighed, shaking his head softly.

“You should be ashamed of yourselves!” Akaashi cried. “You’re all here to protect the town, not murder anyone who gets in the way of your ‘perfect town’!”

“Oh, but Akaashi, it’s all about the greater good.” Akaashi stared at Takara, taken aback but the utter apathy that the man was showing. “You see, as much as I loved your wild theories in my office earlier today, the truth is far less complex. Hattori and Konya were murdered on account of their horrendous acting.”

Akaashi’s mouth fell open, and he didn’t know how to respond. “Th-they died for that? They deserved to be murdered for _that_?!”

“Well, there was also Konya’s disgusting laugh.”

“What about Makino Shimei? Why did he deserve such a harsh punishment?” Akaashi challenged.

“He had a repulsive house,” Takara replied calmly. “It didn’t keep in with the village’s rustic aesthetic.”

Akaashi’s attention was captured by Nakehara, the doctor, who coughed and straightened in his chair, obviously wanting to interject. “And before you can ask, Adachi Mochihido was eliminated because of his lack of a basic understanding of language. I mean, if you look through our newspaper, you’d understand.”

“What about Morine?” Akaashi said, his frown deepening. “She was a member of the NWA! She was one of you!”

It was Takara who responded. “She was too set on moving away. We couldn’t have her sharing her expertise with anyone else. If we couldn’t have her, no one could.”

Akaashi took a long look at the men and women sitting around the table, a sick feeling in his stomach. Something was missing from this scene, but he couldn’t name it. He racked his brain for the memory of the night that he and Bokuto had gone to the NWA where he had been introduced, trying desperately to figure out what was different.

“You killed innocent people!” he cried when he couldn’t remember. “They didn’t deserve to die!”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that, Akaashi.”

The sergeant whirled around to see where the new voice had come from, and the sight that he was met with made the blood in his veins run cold. Standing in front of him with an austere expression was Konosuke Bokuto, his arms crossed over his chest. With a sinking realization, Akaashi knew what had been missing.

Konosuke was a member of the city council and of the NWA.

“You see, my wife, and Koutarou’s mother, loved the ‘Village of the Year’ competition. The whole atmosphere of the race gave her life and spirit, and she spent day and night scheming about how to make the small town of Kuzutari the best village in all of Japan. But, the day before the judges were to arrive, a group of vandalizers came into town, destroying all that my dear wife had worked so hard to create. Driven mad by the utter loss that she had suffered, she took a car and drove off a hill, and I was the one who had to bring her body back.”

There was an eerie silence that washed over the room as Konosuke continued his story. “After that, I swore to avenge my darling. I helped make Kuzutari the town that _would_ win, and we will. You see, the adjudicators for the competition arrive in Kuzutari tomorrow. We had to make the town perfect. Because it _is_ perfect here.”

Akaashi’s jaw steeled, a sense of courage washing over him. “No, sir,” he said evenly. “This is anything but perfect. I can’t accept this. You’re going to have to come with me. You’re _all_ going to have to come with me.”

Konosuke grinned, and Akaashi’s heart skipped a beat out of fear. “No, Akaashi… I’m afraid that’s not how it’s going to be.”

The sound of metal scraping made Akaashi turn back to face the rest of the members of the NWA, and he saw them all brandishing an array of weapons. Then, he turned back to Konosuke, who had his gun pointed at Akaashi’s chest, and then, he saw movement from the shadows.

Bokuto came out of the shadows, holding a gun out and aiming it right in between Akaashi’s eyes.

Akaashi’s heart began to ache, and he swallowed thickly. “Koutarou…” he gasped softly, tears coming to his eyes. “No… No.”

When Bokuto didn’t stop advancing towards him, Akaashi knew that there was nothing he could do. As quickly as he could, he stepped forward, using his training from Tokyo to disarm the amber-eyed officer. He then wrapped his arm around Bokuto’s neck, holding the gun against his boyfriend’s temple. “Now, listen to me very carefully!” he cried brokenly. “Back off or you’ll have to explain why Koutarou has a bullet through his brain!”

The members of the NWA got to their feet, and Konosuke laughed. “Akaashi, you idiot. You haven’t got it in you. I saw what my son means to you.”

“I MEAN IT!” Akaashi roared, tightening his grip on Bokuto’s neck. “GET BACK!”

When nobody did anything to stop, Akaashi closed his eyes tightly, taking in a deep breath. “Shit,” he mumbled, and he let go of Bokuto, racing away with Bokuto’s gun still clenched tightly in his hand. He exited the castle, knowing that he wouldn’t stand a chance since he didn’t know his way around the building, and he made his way to the forest that neighbored the castle. He could hear his pursuers close behind him.

The trees of the forest whooshed past as Akaashi sprinted for his life, and tears stung the corners of his eyes as he thought about Bokuto. _How could he do this to me? I thought I meant something to him!_ he thought angrily. _Has Konosuke really brainwashed him to that extent that he doesn’t care for me anymore? Or did he never care to begin with? Was he just using me?_

Suddenly, the ground of the path underneath Akaashi’s feet gave away, and he fell down onto a dusty floor. Because it was dark outside, none of the NWA members saw him fall, and none of them followed him down. He grabbed his phone from his pocket, and using the flashlight, he took a look around at his new surroundings.

There were corpses, in every stage of decomposition, and Akaashi recognized some of them, much to his horror. There were the boys from the bar from the first night that Akaashi had spent in Kuzutari, and the man who had owned the arsenal of guns.

In a fit of horror, Akaashi scrambled away from the corpses, and he stumbled into a door. Upon pushing the door open, the sergeant was met with a long, winding stone corridor, and, hoping that whatever was at the end of the tunnel would be better than dead bodies, he quickly ran out of the room. Finally, he could see the faint glimmer of moonlight, and he picked up his pace, just wanting the nightmare to end.

Near the end of the tunnel, Akaashi glanced back, making sure one final time that no one had followed him, and it caused him to collide with something quite solid that he hadn’t seen in front of him. He bounced back a little, still standing, and he looked in front of him to see Bokuto, his eyes gleaming menacingly. The rest of the NWA stood behind him, holding their weapons threateningly, and Akaashi’s heart sank to his feet. He was done for.

He tried to lift his gun up to point at Bokuto, but he realized that his hands were empty, and he groaned softly at the thought of him dropping the gun upon entering the room full of victims. Bokuto stepped forward, brandishing a dagger, and Akaashi stared into his eyes pleadingly.

“Koutarou, I’m begging you. Don’t you see? It’s me, Keiji. It’s me, Koutarou, so please… Don’t do this,” Akaashi whispered, and tears fell from his eyes. “Please…”  
  
Without a sound, Bokuto surged forward, plunging his dagger into the left side of Akaashi’s chest, aiming straight for his heart. Akaashi staggered back, staring at Bokuto with wide eyes, and he dropped his phone, which shattered on the cave floor. The sergeant fell to his knees, and then everything went black.


	9. Love You Goodbye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, I'm back, and I promise I'm making up for the last chapter. This chapter is sort of a filler chapter between chapters eight and ten, so forgive me if it's a little shorter than previous chapters. There is smut in this chapter, so if you don't feel like reading that, you can probably just skip that. I won't be updating next week as I have a band trip this week that I have to attend, but I guarantee that I'll post chapter ten on the 29th of February. 
> 
> If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact me either in the comments or on my Tumblr, which be linked at the end of the chapter. :)
> 
> Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy your stay!

“Keiji.”

Akaashi tried to open his eyes, but nothing happened.

“Keiji, wake up.”

The sergeant stirred, and he tried once more to do as the voice said. To his surprise, his eyelids opened groggily, and he stared up at the night sky to see Bokuto’s wide amber eyes staring down at him fearfully.  
  
“Akaashi! Oh, thank goodness. I thought I missed your notepad…” Bokuto said weakly, and he reached into the trunk of his car and pulled Akaashi to his feet.

Akaashi looked around, and he saw that they were on the side of the road, and he realized that he had just come from the trunk of Bokuto’s car. His voice was gravelly when he spoke. “Bokuto-san… What happened? You stabbed me… and then I passed out. How am I not dead?”

Bokuto reached forward, grabbing the notebook out of Akaashi’s shirt pocket, and he brandished it in between the both of them. “See this? Remember when I gave it to you in your hotel room?”

_Bokuto moved over to the table silently, grabbing Akaashi’s notebook and bringing it to him in a quiet, serene manner. He then slipped the notebook into the front left pocket of Akaashi’s shirt, placing it over the sergeant’s heart. “Be safe,” he mumbled._

Akaashi stared wordlessly at the tattered notebook that had been extracted from his shirt pocket. The book had a large stab wound in it from where Bokuto had stabbed it, and it was stained red, though when Akaashi brought a hand up to his chest, he couldn’t feel a wound. He brought his hand to his nose, cautiously sniffing the red substance that was on his fingers, and his eyes widened in realization. The red stain on the notebook wasn’t blood - it was ketchup. The raven-haired sergeant shot his hand out, snatching the notebook from his boyfriend, and he flipped through the pages until he found a ketchup packet wedged between the pages. In an instant everything was made clear.

_Bokuto walked over to the table, a ketchup packet hidden in his hands. He grabbed Akaashi’s notebook, sliding it into the middle of the book, making sure that his partner didn’t see. After all, if his partner knew what was going on, his reaction wouldn’t be as genuine. Bokuto then slipped the ketchup-filled notebook into Akaashi’s pocket covering his heart, knowing that the NWA members would buy into it._

“Akaashi… They think you’re dead. They want you exterminated,” Bokuto said somberly. When Akaashi looked up from the notebook at his partner, he saw that Bokuto’s amber eyes were littered with the beginnings of tears.

“I know, Bokuto-san, but I can’t just leave. They’re murderers! Justice needs to be served!”

Bokuto shook his head, surging forward and wrapping his arms around his boyfriend in a tight hug. “You’re just one police officer. You can’t take on over twelve people alone. Please… You have to leave this place. You have to be happy.”

Akaashi buried his face in the crook of Bokuto’s neck, tears welling up in his own eyes. “I can’t leave you. I can’t leave you behind!” he pulled back, staring deeply into Bokuto’s eyes. “Come with me, Koutarou. You can’t live like this either.”

Bokuto stroked Akaashi’s cheek fondly, smiling sadly. “I can’t leave. They won’t let me leave. They’ll find the both of us, and they’ll kill us. But you… You can make it if you go alone. You’ll have a chance if you take my car now and run. You can have a safe, happy life in Tokyo away from all of this madness! You can be happy!”

“No…” Akaashi replied weakly, shaking his head in protest. “I can’t be happy there. I can’t go back alone. That’s all I’ve ever been! I’ve always been alone! But now that I have you… I’m not alone anymore. And… I can’t leave that. I can’t leave you. I can’t leave you and be happy at the same time. I need you with me to be happy, Koutarou. I don’t want to be alone anymore!”

It was then that Bokuto decided that words were no longer suffice, and he plunged forward, pressing his lips hastily to Akaashi’s and earning a miniscule squeak from the smaller of the two men. Akaashi melted against Bokuto’s strong hold on him, his lips mashing against his boyfriend’s in a synchronization that mirrored the cogs in a clock. Akaashi’s nimble fingers slid their ways up and found themselves tangled in the white and black locs of Boktuo’s hair, while Bokuto’s stronger fingers held onto Akaashi’s jaws, though not so tightly that Akaashi was uncomfortable.

They sat there for a few minutes, exchanging a sweet, innocent kiss, until one of Bokuto’s hands betrayed him, and it strayed down until it was at the swell of Akaashi’s ass. There, Bokuto squeezed the skin, eliciting a slight gasp from Akaashi, but otherwise, he stayed constant, kissing Akaashi calmly and sweetly. Akaashi, however, didn’t take lightly to Bokuto’s gesture, and he quickly separated himself from his boyfriend.

“Bokuto-san,” he said softly, his voice still slightly rough and gravelly. “I can’t- I can’t leave you. You mean too much for me to leave behind.”

Bokuto stared at Akaashi, his large eyes showing that the officer was deep in thought, and there were a few moments of silence before Bokuto responded.

“I want to make love to you.”

At first, Akaashi was convinced that he had heard Bokuto wrong, but when the taller man’s expression stayed unchanging, Akaashi rethought his reaction. “I… What? I thought we were just talking about me leaving,” Akaashi protested feebly.

“What if… What if we go sneak back into town to my house, spend the night, and then have you leave in the morning? Then, after a week or two when this all blows over, I’ll leave town and come join you in Tokyo. How does that sound?” Bokuto asked hopefully, one of his eyebrows curved comically high.

Akaashi thought over Bokuto’s proposition, rolling around the different scenarios in his mind, and finally he answered. “I… I don’t see a problem with that. Let’s go, then.”

Bokuto then led him to the car, biting his lip. “Just in case we run into anyone on the way home,” he said thoughtfully, “I need you to lay down in the back seat. I’ll make sure to drive safe so that you don’t get hurt at all, okay?”

The sergeant nodded obediently, and he crawled in the back of the car, doing as Bokuto had told him.

~~~~~~

Akaashi and Bokuto walked into the door, and immediately, Akaashi was pressed to the wall, Bokuto’s knee pressed lightly in between his leg, rubbing ever so slightly on his clothed crotch. Bokuto then leaned in and kissed him forcefully, cupping Akaashi’s jaw with one hand, and he grinned triumphantly when Akaashi began to match the quick pace of his kiss with ease. Bokuto trailed a hand down Akaashi’s torso, stopping just above his waist. In an instant, Akaashi’s hand clasped around Bokuto’s wrist, and Bokuto pulled back, gasping for air since he hadn’t fully prepared for such an intense kiss.

“Koutarou… I…” Akaashi choked, and he bucked his hips. Bokuto realized in an instant what his boyfriend was asking for, and he quickly moved his other hand down to brush his fingers against Akaashi’s clothed cock. Akaashi gasped, and Bokuto leaned in to kiss his neck. “I need you, Koutarou. Please…”

Hearing Akaashi beg must have been the last straw for Bokuto, for he quickly picked Akaashi up, letting the shorter man wrap his legs around Bokuto’s hips, and Bokuto carried him up the stairs to the second floor of the house, and he took Akaashi to his room, letting his partner fall onto his bed with a soft thump. Bokuto reached over his head, pulling his shirt off quickly, and he kneeled down in between Akaashi’s legs to kiss him softly. Akaashi was even more eager to return the kiss this time, hooking his fingers in Bokuto’s pants and pulling them off with one swift motion. Bokuto broke the kiss and panted, looking down at Akaashi with a weak smile.

“So beautiful, Keiji,” Bokuto said, and in response, Akaashi stripped of his shirt and pants quickly. He reached up and grabbed the back of Bokuto’s neck and pulled him down into yet another crushing kiss, and Bokuto chuckled at his boyfriend’s pushy side.

The sounds that the kiss elicited from Akaashi made Bokuto whine into the kiss, and when Akaashi couldn’t take it anymore, he pulled back, feeling Bokuto’s erection pressed up against his thigh. He knew, however, that he was no better off. A loud whine escaped Akaashi’s lips, and Bokuto quickly moved over to his bedside table, rummaging around in the drawer for a minute before returning to Akaashi with a condom and lube. He then spread the lube on his fingers unceremoniously, using his clean hand to pull Akaashi’s boxers off. He then pushed his index finger against Akaashi’s entrance, grinning at the moan that Akaashi let out breathily.

“Bokuto… Please… I need your fingers. Please, Koutarou, please…” Akaashi moaned, his voice rough and whiney.

Bokuto did as his boyfriend asked and pushed his finger in gently, making sure that he hurt Akaashi as little as possible. He watched Akaashi’s face closely, making sure to thrust his finger in and out and curl it so that Akaashi could still feel pleasure on top of the intrusion of his finger. When he was confident that it was time, Bokuto pushed in his middle finger, pausing for a moment to let Akaashi grow accustomed to the burn of the slight stretch. When Akaashi’s breathing became less labored and more pleasure-filled, Bokuto began scissoring his fingers, making it so that the transition to three fingers inside of him would hurt a little less.

“You look so good like this,” Bokuto praised, running his free hand up and down Akaashi’s stomach and chest.

Akaashi moaned in response, screwing his eyes shut as Bokuto's fingers brushed against his prostate, and Bokuto rubbed the tips of his fingers against the spot, watching in awe as Akaashi’s hips stuttered each time. As Bokuto pushed in his third finger, Akaashi began rocking his hips, fucking himself onto Bokuto’s fingers. The sight of seeing Akaashi so undone made Bokuto groan, a sound that had Akaashi feel as though he were on fire. He needed Bokuto, and he needed him soon. Bokuto slid his boxers off with his free hand, grabbed the lube, put the condom on, and then spread a generous amount onto his cock, his length twitching at the contact. Then, when he was sure that he had put enough on himself, Bokuto pulled his fingers away, sighing when he heard Akaashi whine in protest. He quickly spread some more lube onto Akaashi’s entrance, taking every precaution not to hurt his boyfriend, and he pushed the tip of his cock into Akaashi.

The feeling of practically being ripped open caused a loud moan full of emotion to escape from Akaashi’s throat, and he had to force himself not the clench down on Bokuto. Bokuto pushed in slowly, trying his best to keep from making Akaashi squirm, but both of them also knew that a little pain couldn’t be avoided. Why did something that felt so good have to hurt so badly in the beginning? When Bokuto had pushed in all the way, he stayed his hips, moaning breathily, and Akaashi was sure that it didn’t help him at all that Akaashi was squirming around, trying desperately to get used to Bokuto so that the older man could move.

“Koutarou,” Akaashi whispered, moving his legs up and over both of Bokuto’s shoulders. “Move. Oh, God, please move.”

Without needing to be told twice, Bokuto moved his hips, the action sluid and smooth. He pulled almost all the way out and pushed back in, listening to the beautiful sounds that Akaashi was making. Akaashi suddenly reached up, pulling Bokuto down into a fiery kiss. They kissed passionaetly as Bokuto rolled his hips against Akaashi’s, the sounds of labored breaths and skin slapping filling the room. Bokuto kept his pace steady, even when Akaashi began rocking his hips to meet Bokuto’s thrusts, and as soon as Bokuto pulled back from their sloppy kiss, Akaashi started mewling once more.

“Harder… Faster… Oh!” Akaashi cried as Bokuto grabbed both sides of his hips, lifting him up and thrusting into him from a new angle.

Akaashi could feel himself getting close, and it seemed that Bokuto could tell that he was nearing his end as well, for the taller man wrapped his hand around Akaashi’s cock, pumping his hand in time with his thrusts. Akaashi cried out repeatedly, spouting nonsense with hints of coherent thoughts. Every once in a while, Bokuto’s name escaped Akaashi’s lips, and it only caused the amber-eyed man to snap his hips against Akaashi’s faster, causing Akaashi’s whines and moans to increase in volume.

He could feel himself nearing release, and the final blow was delivered as Bokuto thrust into him particularly roughly, and he clenched around Bokuto almost painfully tightly, spilling all over his stomach and Bokuto’s hand, whining loudly and yelping Bokuto’s name. At the feeling of Akaashi tightening around him, Bokuto came with a shudder, his grip on Akaashi’s hips tightening until it was almost bruising, but Akaashi was too busy recovering from his violent orgasm to notice. Bokuto let out a cry that morphed into a moan, collapsing on top of Akaashi, and it looked as though it took all of his remaining energy just to pull out of Akaashi and roll off of him to throw the condom away.

“Kou…” Akaashi whispered, scooting up against Bokuto’s side when the older man rolled over onto his back beside Akaashi. “I’m sorry for everything. I don’t want to leave you.”

Bokuto laugh huskily, turning and cuddling up against Akaashi, wrapping his arms tightly around Akaashi’s sweaty body. “No, I’m sorry that I didn’t see the corruption that my dad was a part of until too late. I just… I love you, Akaashi, and I need you to be safe. That’s why you have to go. I can’t watch them kill you.”

“Well,” Akaashi cooed, resting his head in the crook of Bokuto’s neck, “I’ll make sure that everything comes to a justified end, alright? Everything will stop, and we can live together happily, okay?”

Bokuto nodded weakly, sighing heavily and sadly. “Okay.”

“Oh, and Koutarou?”

“Yes, Keiji?”

“I love you, too.”

~~~~~~

The next morning, Akaashi snuck out of Bokuto’s house before the crack of dawn, knowing that saying goodbye would be much too painful. He took Bokuto’s car, however, remembering how Bokuto had insisted that he take it, and he drove out of the city limits of Kuzutari, not looking back at the life and the people that he was leaving behind.

He watched as the country whooshed past him, trying to ignore the hole in his heart that had been created by leaving Bokuto behind. The last thing he wanted was for Bokuto to be exposed to his horrific father any longer, but he told himself that everyone had sacrifices they needed to make, and that eventually Bokuto’s sacrifice would end up in them living happily together in a town with no corrupt leadership.

He had been driving for long enough that the sun had finally begun to peek up in the sky when he had to stop for gas at a small gas station in the middle of nowhere. He walked inside, fishing some money out of his wallet, and, not looking where he was going, he ran right into a display rack full of movies. Luckily for Akaashi, none of the display fell over, but he was startled, and he stared at the movies with wide eyes.  
  
The movies were all American action films, for the store seemed to have some sort of special going on, and Akaashi recognized some of the titles only thanks to Bokuto and his immense knowledge of action movies. Lethal Weapon, Die Hard, and Bad Boys 1 and 2 were the ones that caught Akaashi’s attention, and his heart ached with memories of Bokuto.

Something suddenly snapped inside of Akaashi, and he clenched his fists at his sides. _Bokuto needs me. Kuzutari needs me,_ he thought determinedly, and he nodded once, a plan forming in his mind. He was going to go back to Kuzutari, and he was going to rid the town of the scum who called themselves the NWA, and if he had to do it single-handedly, then so be it.  
  
He quickly paid for a full tank of gas and then sped off back in the direction of the town he had just escaped. He was going to truly make Kuzutari the best village in the country.


	10. The Purge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! Early chapter just for being good and being patient. This is the second to last chapter, and it's kinda long. It's more violent than other chapters have been, and... yeah! If you've seen Hot Fuzz, that shouldn't surprise you. :P
> 
> If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact me either in the comments or on my Tumblr, which be linked at the end of the chapter. :)
> 
> Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy your stay!

Akaashi’s window was rolled down, and he rested an arm on the window, leisurely driving into the outskirts of Kuzutari and enjoying the fresh early morning air. He knew the town well enough to know that he was approaching the farm of Sakai Kazu, one of the members of the poisonous NWA. The middle-aged woman was standing by a fence along the road that Akaashi had brought his car to a stop on, and her back was to his car - Bokuto’s car. Through his sunglasses, Akaashi saw Sakai turn slowly, staring with a confused expression at Bokuto’s car.

He watched her lips mouth “Koutarou?”, and then he watched her eyes widen in horror as she realized that the person behind the wheel was not the person who owned the car. She lept towards her own car, which was parked close to where she had been feeding her horses, and Akaashi saw that she was reaching for a walkie talkie that sat on her dashboard.

Without any hesitation, Akaashi’s foot slammed on the gas, and he barrelled towards Sakai’s car. He smashed into the front of her car, knocking the walkie talkie far out of her reach, and then he rolled gracefully out of the front seat of Bokuto’s car, maneuvering so that he got to his feet directly in front of Sakai, startling the older woman. She stumbled back in shock, staring at the sergeant with eyes the size of saucers, and she had no time to react before Akaashi brought his fist down and connected it with her nose, grinning savagely at the sound of the crunch that echoed around them.

Sakai crumpled, holding her nose with both of her hands, and Akaashi quickly moved to Bokuto’s total car, throwing the trunk open and fishing out the rope that Bokuto had used to bind him the previous night. Then he quickly moved back to Sakai, using all of his strength to move the lady to a nearby fence post, and he tied her tightly, ensuring that she wouldn’t escape.

As he finished securing the ropes, a cacophony sounded in Akaashi’s ears, and the feeling of white hot pain erupted in his left arm. “FUCK!” he cried, gripping the wound, and he looked up to see a _very_ old woman holding a shotgun pointed right at him. Akaashi barely had any time to react before the old woman sent another shot flying, and he ducked out of the way just as the bullets from the gun collided with Bokuto’s car behind him.

While the old woman, who Akaashi assumed was Sakai’s mother, reloaded her gun, Akaashi surged forward, knocking her to the ground and dislodging the gun from her grip. Then, he quickly brought his head down, colliding his forehead ruthlessly with the Sakai’s mother’s own forehead, and he felt the woman go limp underneath him. He grinned at the thought of triumph, especially since he was confident that he hadn’t hurt the elderly lady, just rendered her unconscious.

Akaashi then carried Sakai’s mother over to her daughter, tying her unconscious body up next to Sakai’s, and he stared at the NWA member. She spat some of the blood that had dripped from her nose out onto the ground, glaring daggers at Akaashi. “What do you expect to do, just waltz in and arrest the whole village?” she hissed venomously.

“Not exactly,” Akaashi replied cheerfully, smiling and hopping over the fence towards the horses that Sakai had been tending to.

He hadn’t ridden a horse since he was young and growing up on his family farm, but as soon as he hopped on to the bare back of one of Sakai’s horses, he felt right at home. With a swift, yet gentle, kick to the horse’s flank, Akaashi shot off to the center of Kuzutari, leaving Sakai and her mother in the dust.

~~~~~~

Akaashi Keiji was riding through the streets of Kuzutari on a _fucking_ horse. There was no doubt in Bokuto’s mind that it was Akaashi riding through the streets towards his patrol car - he recognized the unruly black curls of his boyfriend immediately upon looking in his rearview mirror - and as soon as Akaashi was close enough, Bokuto leapt out of the car, sprinting up to his boyfriend with a terrified expression.

“Akaashi!” he choked out, standing next to the horse that Akaashi was perched on. He stared up at his boyfriend, tears welling up in his eyes. “Get out of here before somebody sees you!!”

He pushed feebly on the horse’s flank, causing Akaashi to chuckle lightly. “Bokuto-san, I’m not leaving. I… I love you. I wasn’t about to leave you behind. You mean more to me than anyone else in the world. I’m going to give you… No, I’m going to give us both the ending we deserve,” Akaashi responded patiently, and he leaned down to kiss the top of Bokuto’s head gently. “Now… Are you going to help me or are you just going to stand there?”

Bokuto nodded feebly, biting his lip and looking around to make sure that nobody from the NWA had spotted them. “What can I do?”

“First, I need you to go to the store and buy as many cans of spray paint as you can. Then, go to the police station and put all of the spray paint in a bag. While you’re at the police station, grab as many guns as you can carry and then meet me at your house, okay? I believe in you, Koutarou.”

With another swift kiss to the top of Bokuto’s head, Akaashi departed, trotting off in the direction of Bokuto’s house, and Bokuto didn’t need anymore persuading. He ran back to his car, and then he sped down the street to the supermarket - Takara’s supermarket - and he rushed inside. It took everything that Bokuto had in him to act casual and not act as though he had just seen his boyfriend after convincing himself that he was never going to see Akaashi ever again.

He sped through the aisles, searching desperately for the spray paint before he ran into someone who recognized him and questioned him. It was only when he had finally closed his fingers around his first can of spray paint that he heard a familiar voice sound behind him, and he turned slowly to see Kuroo walking down to talk to him. His heart pounded brutally in his chest, and he swallowed thickly. He wanted anything but to lie to his best friend… But he knew that Akaashi’s safety was on the line, and he knew deep down in his heart that protecting Akaashi was more important than being truthful with Kuroo.

“Bo,” Kuroo greeted, a wide smile plastered on his face. “What a coincidence, running into you here. What are you here for? I was just picking up some cookies for Oikawa while I was on my break.” The wild-haired detective brandished a package of chocolate chip cookies, and Bokuto chuckled weakly.

“I’m just, uh…” Bokuto began, and then he looked at his hand, which was clutching a spray paint can rather tightly. He wasn’t going to be able to lie his way out of this very easily. “I was just buying some spray paint.”

Kuroo raised an eyebrow, following Bokuto’s gaze to the can in his hand. “Spray paint? Why the fuck are you buying spray paint?”

Upon Kuroo’s inquiry, Bokuto realized that even he didn’t actually know what the paint was for. _Maybe this will be easier to lie about than I thought,_ he told himself. “I’m not sure. I just got a call from Dad earlier asking me to bring a bunch to the station. Figured it was better if I didn’t question him, so here I am,” he answered with a forced shrug.

Kuroo chuckled, offering his basket to Bokuto. “Well, you should’ve brought something to carry them in if you’re getting multiple. Think ahead next time, you dumb owl,” he teased, and Bokuto let out a slow, deep breath. He got by without mentioning Akaashi.

“Thanks, Kuroo,” he mumbled, and he piled in countless cans into Kuroo’s basket. The two of them walked in silence to the cash registers.

After they had both paid and were walking out to their cars, Kuroo suddenly grabbed ahold of Bokuto’s shoulder, turning him around and staring into his eyes. “Bo…” he said in a serious tone, and Bokuto bit his lip in anticipation for his friend’s question that he knew was coming. “Did you hear what happened to Akaashi?”

Bokuto fought to keep a straight face at the mention of his boyfriend. “What about him?”

Kuroo took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “He fell last night and broke his neck. Your father called everyone in the police force this morning… He’s… He’s dead.”

There were a few moments of silence as Bokuto thought over all that he was going to do. If he was going to trust Akaashi, then Akaashi needed to trust him. “Kuroo… He’s not dead,” Bokuto whispered.

“I know it’s hard, but the doctor did an autopsy late last night and-”

“He’s not dead. I’ll take you to him,” Bokuto interrupted, and he stared at the detective seriously. “I can explain everything on the way to my house, but Akaashi’s waiting on me for these cans of paint, and I can’t keep him waiting any longer.”

Without waiting for a response, Bokuto grabbed Kuroo’s wrist and drug him to his patrol car, not ready to accept no as an answer.

~~~~~~

Akaashi stared at the clock hopelessly, the sound of seconds ticking by driving him mad. Bokuto had been gone for over half an hour. Had he been stopped by one of the members of the NWA and questioned about the spray paint? Had he been taken in for questioning? The possibilities of Bokuto’s whereabouts made Akaashi’s stomach churn with anxiety, and he paced the floor of Bokuto’s living room.

Finally, the sound of the front door opening pulled Akaashi from his worries, and he barreled towards the foyer of Bokuto’s house, leaping into the arms of the person walking into the building. To his horror, however, the person that he had his arms wrapped around wasn’t Bokuto.

Kuroo stared down at Akaashi, an eyebrow raised and a smirk on his lips. “You missed me that much, huh, Akaashi?” he teased, and Akaashi quickly detached from the detective.

Bokuto appeared from behind Kuroo, a shopping bag full of paint cans in his his hand, and he swooped around Kuroo to give Akaashi a light kiss on his cheek. “I explained to Kuroo all that happened. He’s here to help. We want to help you do whatever you’re planning to do,” Bokuto explained when he saw the confused expression that Akaashi had written on his face, and he handed the spray paint over to the raven-haired sergeant.

“What they did was terrible to you…” Kuroo said, approaching Akaashi slowly. “And I just want to say… I’m sorry for the way that I treated you. I’m not just apologizing cause I see that you were right all along; I’m apologizing because the way I acted was childish and wrong, and it wasn’t fair to you to move into a town and be treated so poorly. So… please forgive me.”

Akaashi grinned, nodding once in response to Kuroo. “I forgive you, Kuroo-san. Now, are you two ready to start Operation Purge? Bokuto-san, did you get the guns from the police station like I asked you to?”

Bokuto cocked his head to the side, and Akaashi snorted softly to himself, chuckling at how closely his boyfriend resembled an owl. “Yeah, I got the paint and the guns; they’re out in my patrol car. Now, explain what Operation Purge is.”

“First, the two of you are going to take the spray paint and cover all of the cameras around town so that the surveillance is cut off and the NWA can’t monitor our every move and see us coming. After you’re done with that, the three of us are going to meet up wherever I am, and we’ll attack the members of the NWA one by one. I’ll be using guns, but I won’t be killing anyone. Just… incapacitating. Understood? We’re going to deal with Takara and Konosuke last, alright? Does that make sense?”

Akaashi stared between the two men in front of him, and he noticed that Bokuto’s attention was fixed on something other than his face, and he frowned deeply. “Bokuto-san, are you even listening to me?”

Bokuto stepped forward cautiously, grabbing Akaashi’s left hand and inspecting his arm. As pain shot through the nerves on his limb, Akaashi was reminded of the shot that Sakai’s mother had delivered that had made its target, and he hissed quietly through gritted teeth. “It’s nothing. I can worry about that when everything’s over,” he grumbled, pulling his arm from Bokuto’s grasp.

Silently, Akaashi pushed past his boyfriend, going out and searching the trunk of Bokuto’s patrol car for a suitable gun. He picked out a few simple pistols (easy to stash), and then he turned to Bokuto and Kuroo, who had moved to stand on Bokuto’s front porch. “Are you two ready? When you’re done painting all of the cameras, call me and I can tell you where I am.” 

Before either Bokuto or Kuroo could respond, Akaashi turned and went to Sakai’s horse, mounting it swiftly and setting off in the direction of the main street of Kuzutari.

~~~~~~

As soon as Akaashi walked out fearlessly in between the main shops (most of which were owned by NWA members), the entire village of Kuzutari seemed to come to a screeching halt. Akaashi could feel numerous pairs of eyes on him from all of the insides of the shops, and as he turned his head around to get a good look at his surroundings, he saw that not all of the NWA was hiding indoors.

There was Kimoto Shirosama, a random citizen of Kuzutari (but still part of the NWA), who was frozen mid-step on the sidewalk diagonal from where Akaashi sat perched on his horse, and Nakehara, the local doctor, looked as though his conversation with fellow NWA member Tao Natsu had been rudely interrupted by Akaashi’s presence. Akaashi stared between the three of his enemies, a large, manic smile plastered on his face. “Good morning,” he said cheerfully, and suddenly, the town burst into chaos.

Kimoto suddenly flung his rather large overcoat open, revealing a shotgun, and Akaashi had just mere seconds to jump off of Sakai’s horse and out of the way before the old man released a shot, which thankfully missed Akaashi by centimeters and collided loudly with the street lamp next to the sergeant.

Akaashi looked around at his surroundings desperately, ignoring the throbbing in his hip that had bloomed from when he had collided with the concrete ground, and his eyes widened in relief as his eyes landed on an old, rickety truck that had a bed full of enormous steel beams. Akaashi closed an eye and aimed one of his guns at the wooden latch on the back of the truck’s bed, and with a single shot, the back of the truck exploded open, releasing the tidal wave of steel. The beams rolled right towards Kimoto, who didn’t have any time to react, and they knocked the old man off of his feet, and Akaashi watched with a satisfied smile as the man’s head smacked with a cacophonous thump on the cement, rendering him quite unconscious.

A couple shots were fired, colliding with Akaashi’s immediate surroundings, and the sergeant turned to see Bokuto and Kuroo driving down the road, Kuroo leaning out the window and aiming carefully at Nakehara and Tao. The detective managed to hit Tao in the shoulder, and the man crumpled to the ground dramatically, but unfortunately Nakehara was unscathed, and he escaped into a nearby building, which happened to be the hotel in which Akaashi had been staying in.

Bokuto parked the car near where Akaashi was, and he opened his door just in time for Nonaka Natsuko, the female hotel owner, to come hauling towards them on a bicycle. “Fascist!!” she shrieked, but unfortunately for her, she was so busy shouting her insult that she didn’t see Bokuto’s car door, and she collided with it ruthlessly, flipping over and knocking herself out.

“Hag,” Akaashi mumbled, and he grinned happily as Bokuto and Kuroo came running up to him.

“Looks like you’ve got your hands full, Sergeant,” Kuroo cooed, and he quickly turned and sent a round directly into an open window of a nearby building. Akaashi watched in awe as Ishii Hisae, who had been perched in the apartment building above her shop, crumpled to the ground, and he turned to Kuroo, who had a gigantic smirk on his face.

A shout captured his attention, and Akaashi whirled around to see Endo Shiba walking down the street with arms wide open (and seemingly without weapons). “Now, now, Sergeant,” he called, eyeing Bokuto and Kuroo warily. “Is this any way to act? You must be a man of peace, my dear boy.”

Akaashi stepped forward, his eyes narrowing at the old man. “I may not be a man like you, who claims to be a man of faith, but I know right and wrong, and I have the grace to know which is which.”

Endo rolled his eyes, unsheathing a small handgun from within his coat. “Oh, fuck off, you self-righteous prick,” he growled, and he pulled the pistol, sending a bullet right into Akaashi’s chest. The sergeant crumpled to the ground, clutching the hole in his jacket.

“NO!!” Bokuto cried, firing his gun at the same time that Kuroo pulled his own trigger, and together the police officers shot both of the older man’s kneecaps, causing him to scream out in agony and sink to the ground.

Bokuto scrambled up to Akaashi, tears flowing freely from his eyes, and he quickly stripped Akaashi’s jacket off, trying to get a good view of the bullet wound. “Akaashi, no, no, no…” he blubbered, and Kuroo kneeled down beside him.

To Bokuto’s surprise, however, underneath Akaashi’s jacket was the familiar fabric of a bulletproof vest, and Akaashi moved his head down to look at the hole which had pierced his vest but had gone no farther. “I…” Akaashi coughed softly, clearing his throat. “I’m alright, Bokuto-san. Calm down-”

The sound of a gun cocking captured the three police officers’ attentions, and they turned to see Nakehara brandishing a shotgun pointed straight at the three of them.

“Drop your weapons,” he said coolly, glaring mainly at Bokuto.

Bokuto stood slowly, leaving his guns on the ground next to Akaashi, and he held his hands in the air. “Doctor Nakehara… wait.”

“Oh, shut the fuck up,” the doctor hissed, rolling his eyes. “I brought you into this world, Koutarou. Don’t make me be the one to take you out. Now, Sergeant and Detective, stand up _now_.”

Suddenly, Akaashi fired a shot from the ground, hitting Nakehara directly in his gun hand, causing the doctor to drop to the ground, screaming pitifully. The two officers got to their feet, and Akaashi walked over, staring down at Nakehara apathetically. “You’re a motherfucking doctor. Quit your whining and fix it.”

Kuroo chuckled, patting Akaashi on the back approvingly, and Akaashi turned to smile at the messy-haired detective.

“Akaashi, where to next?” Bokuto called beside them, sending a shot into one of the hanging flower arrangements hanging from a street lamp, sending it crashing down onto Nonaka Arata’s head.

Akaashi spun around, looking for a good place to ambush more NWA members, and his gaze landed on the bar owned by the Sumidas, and he grinned maliciously. “There!”

The three police officers snuck into the bar, which for a moment seemed completely empty, and Akaashi looked around cautiously. “Are you sure they’re even here?” Bokuto whispered, and that was when the bar owners decided to make their presence known.

The married couple unloaded a few rounds into the wall behind the three officers, and Bokuto, Akaashi, and Kuroo quickly made their way to a nearby table, flipping it over so that they had a small glimmer of cover to hide behind. The bar owners continued emptying their guns into the table, and Akaashi took the chance to convene with Bokuto and Kuroo about their plan.

“As soon as they run out of bullets, Bokuto, I want you to jump up and shoot down the chandelier that’s hanging on the ceiling above Ruri. Kuroo, while he’s doing that, I want you shoot down the bear trap above Tanyu’s head. Got it?” he commanded, and both police officers nodded obediently.

As soon as Akaashi had finished speaking, the downpour of bullets was silenced, and Akaashi heard the telltale sound of guns being reloaded as well as Ruri screeching “Call the police!!”

Bokuto and Kuroo then suddenly jumped in sync with each other and shot simultaneously, and Akaashi peeked over the edge of the table just in time to see the two bar owners get taken out. The chandelier that Bokuto had shot swung down and collided brutally with Ruri’s face, knocking her to the ground at the same time that Kuroo shot down the bear trap. The metal trap fell perfectly down around Tanyu’s head, and it was triggered and slammed shut on his throat.

As soon as he knew that the two bar owners were dealt with, Akaashi flipped the table to its original position, and as he was inspecting the damage, he heard a very familiar voice from behind him.

“Put your hands up! Now!”

Akaashi, Bokuto, and Kuroo whirled around to face the entire Kuzutari police service, clad in full riot gear, with Konosuke standing in front of them with a menacing look on his face. “Arrest Sergeant Akaashi immediately. Koutarou, Kuroo, step away from that man,” he commanded simply, yet everyone in the room stayed motionless.

“No, Dad,” came Bokuto’s calm, quiet response.

“Excuse me?”

Bokuto stared at Konosuke with wide, serious eyes, and he took a deep breath. “No. I’m not going to take orders from you anymore.”

Konosuke’s eyes widened in fury, and he clenched his jaw. “Officers, arrest these men!”

Akaashi stepped forward, his hands above his head. “Now, officers, you can listen to Konosuke and arrest us… But all that will happen is you going back to the rocks you’ve all been living under. If you just hear me out, I can explain everything to you.”

Oikawa pulled off his mask, his eyebrows furrowed deeply in confusion. “What the fuck is he on about?”

“Nothing!” Konosuke spat, glaring daggers at everyone.

“Have you ever wondered why the crime rate in Kuzutari is so low?” Akaashi challenged, ignoring Konosuke completely.

Lev stripped off his own mask, a frown etched on his sharp features. “No. Yes. Wait, what?”

Yaku exasperatedly removed his mask, staring up at the tall officer. “Lev, shut up. You’re lowering the IQ of the whole street,” he grumbled. He turned to Akaashi, an eyebrow raised. “What do you mean, Sergeant Akaashi?”

“You’ve been brainwashed,” Kuroo interjected calmly, staring not at Yaku or at Lev, but at Oikawa. “Konosuke and the NWA have been hiding every murder that’s happened in the last twenty years in order to maintain a ‘perfect village’, and they’ve staged every crime to just look like an accident.”

Oikawa stared at his partner, his brown eyes full of confusion. “You believe them, Tetsu?”

Wordlessly, Kuroo nodded once, and Oikawa hesitantly lowered his gun, the rest of the police officers following his lead. Konosuke, outraged, spun around, aiming the guns in his hands at the five police officers. “You don’t really believe this nonsense, do you?! This is absurd! Ridiculous!!” he screamed, yet the officers all kept steeled expressions.

Oikawa stepped forward, pointing his gun right at Konosuke’s chest. “Maybe, sir, it’s time to give up the act,” he said in a dangerously low voice that made chills run up Akaashi’s spine.

Konosuke, knowing that he was hopelessly outnumbered, suddenly pointed his guns to the ceiling, shooting a light fixture and causing sparks and glass to rain down, and all of the police officers took cover. Konosuke took his opportunity to run out of the bar, and by the time that Akaashi saw him, Konosuke was already running away in Bokoto’s patrol car.

“Fuck,” Akaashi hissed, standing up and looking around at the police officers surrounding him.

“Should we go after him?” Suga asked, and Akaashi saw that he and Daichi were both also unmasked.

The sergeant slowly shook his head, turning to look at Bokuto. “No… We have bigger fish to fry. Bokuto-san… Wanna go to the shop?”

~~~~~~

The eight officers slunk through the parking lot of Takara’s supermarket, sticking close together and keeping an eye out for any leftover NWA members. “What’s the plan, Akaashi?” Daichi asked once they were stationed right outside the main doors.

“We’ll take them by surprise. It’s our only chance. Wait here. I’m going to go see if that rat is actually here or if he’s somewhere else hiding,” Akaashi replied evenly, and he quickly made his way in through the automatic front doors of the supermarket.

Within seconds, however, Akaashi was flung through the air out those same doors, shattering the glass and landing in a heap on the pavement. “Yeah,” he croaked weakly, “they’re here.”

Yagi, the man who had attacked Akaashi in his hotel room, emerged from the store, grabbing Akaashi by the collar of his shirt and flinging him back into the shop. Akaashi slid across the polished floor of the supermarket, and he watched in between Yagi’s legs as the rest of the Kuzutari police service filed in while Yagi was distracted, and he grinned triumphantly as he watched Bokuto run up behind Yagi and clamber onto the obscenely large man’s back.

Bokuto’s large biceps squeezed around Yagi’s neck, and Akaashi watched as the supermarket worker’s face turned red until his eyes rolled back in his head and he crumpled to the ground. Bokuto hopped off of him, grinning like he had just won the lottery, and he pulled Akaashi to his feet.

“Thank you, Bokuto-san. Now, let’s go,” he said, determined beyond measure, and he ran off in the direction that he had seen the other officers head in.

Akaashi found the six other officers in a firefight with the men in the meat department, who were hurling meat cleavers and sharp knives in order to protect themselves from the police officers’ guns. Akaashi and Bokuto, however, were easily able to shoot from farther back, and they easily shattered the glass counter that the men stood behind, and Oikawa and Kuroo shouted their thanks over their shoulders.

Bokuto yelped out in surprise, and Akaashi whirled around to see Takara sprinting out the front doors of the supermarket, and Akaashi’s jaw clenched. Now Konosuke and Takara had both escaped his grasp. He turned back around to the officers, and he grabbed ahold of Suga’s shirt sleeve since the silver-haired police officer was the closest to him.

“Hold the fort here, okay? Don’t follow Bokuto or me, alright? Stay here and stay safe. Call Tokyo and tell them what’s happened,” he commanded, and Suga nodded obediently.

Akaashi then turned back to Bokuto, nodding once to let him know that they were going to go and follow Konosuke and Takara. The pair of officers sprinted outside just in time to see Konosuke and Takara speeding off in Takara’s car, and Akaashi looked to his right to see that they had left Bokuto’s patrol car behind. Akaashi ran to the car, Bokuto clambering into the passenger’s seat, and the two of them sped off in a high-speed pursuit after the two masterminds behind the poisonous community that was Kuzutari.

~~~~~~~

The patrol car screamed down the countryside road, Akaashi’s foot pressed down aggressively on the gas pedal. It was only Bokuto’s loud cry of panic that caused his adrenaline to stop pumping long enough for his foot to move and slam on the brakes, and luckily, Akaashi was able to stop the car millimeters before the patrol car slammed into the swan that had been plaguing Akaashi’s nightmares for weeks.

Akaashi turned to look at Bokuto, who immediately leapt from the car and wrestled the swan into the back of the car, handing it a leftover half of a sandwich to keep it complacent. Then, once the swan was docile, Akaashi sped off after Konosuke and Takara once more, his hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles were white.

When they finally saw Takara’s car again, it was upturned in a ditch, and it was deserted, much to Akaashi’s dismay. He saw a nearby cave, however, and he immediately knew where the two delinquents had gone. He immediately jumped out of the car, and he took his gun into the cave, using his flashlight to illuminate his way.

Suddenly, an arm wrapped around his neck, and Akaashi dropped both his gun and his flashlight. The light of the dropped flashlight illuminated the walls, and Akaashi kicked back, connecting his heel with his attacker’s knee causing the man to let go of him. Akaashi whirled around to see a crazed Takara in front of him, and he immediately grabbed ahold of the storeowner’s head, bringing it down ruthlessly and smashing the man’s nose into his knee.

Takara then immediately – hardly fazed by the blow to his face – delivered a heavy punch to Akaashi’s gut, which sent the sergeant stumbling back. Akaashi wasn’t about to give up, however, and he surged forward, aiming a punch at Takara’s face, but the older man saw his attack coming and grabbed Akaashi’s fist in his own hand, squeezing bruisingly tightly.

Akaashi cried out in agony, and he lifted his foot, kicking Takara square in the stomach and earning him his momentary escape. Immediately, so that Takara was caught off guard, Akaashi punched the taller man in an uppercut, laying him out and knocking him unconscious.

The sergeant turned, breathing heavily, and began walking towards the mouth of the cave, ready to search for Konosuke, and that was when he heard a sound that made his blood run cold. From behind him came a scream, and Akaashi turned around to see Takara running towards him with a knife, eyes wide and furious.

“AKAASHIIIIIII!”

Much to Akaashi’s surprise, Takara never made it to him. The supermarket owner instead slipped in a mud puddle that Akaashi had been careful to avoid, and he fell backwards onto a stalagmite, impaling his skull through the base of his neck and through his forehead. Akaashi stared at the sight, horrified, and he quickly ran out of the cave, not wanting Takara’s corpse to plague his vision any longer.

“Bokuto, he’s…”

Akaashi’s eyes landed on the sight of Bokuto pulling Konosuke from the wreck of Takara’s car, and he watched helplessly as Konosuke quickly twisted around so that he was holding onto Bokuto and holding a gun to his son’s head.

“Konosuke, you mad bastard, give it up!!” Akaashi cried. “There’s nothing left for you to fight for! Now let him go!!”

“NO!” Konosuke bellowed tightening his grip on Bokuto.

“You’ve already lost your wife! Do you really want to lose your son, too?!”

At the sound of Akaashi’s words, Konosuke flung Bokuto to the ground, and he climbed into Bokuto’s patrol car, speeding off. As soon as Akaashi knew that Konosuke wasn’t going to hurt either one of them, he rushed over to Bokuto, who was laying on the ground.

“Are you okay, Koutarou?” Akaashi asked worriedly.

Bokuto laughed in response, cupping his hand on Akaashi’s jaw, staring into his eyes like he was staring at the beauty of the night sky. “I’m fine. Although… I don’t think Dad will be. We probably should’ve warned him about the swan.”

At that moment, the sound of screeching tires broke the quiet morning atmosphere, and Akaashi looked up to see Bokuto’s car being driven right into a tree.

“Yeah… Mentioning the swan would’ve been a good idea.”


	11. In The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, friends. Here it is. The final chapter of Hot Fuzz Revisited. Honestly, this fanfiction has been such a journey for me, and I am so honored to have been able to share my first fanfiction with all of you readers. Whether you left a comment, a kudos, or just silently came back every update to read my story, you have left a memory in my mind that will never be forgotten. Words cannot express how thankful I am for every single person who decided to click on this work and read it.
> 
> Again, thank you so much for spending your time reading my story, and thank you for all the support and love you've given me. xx

The sound of police sirens and distant conversations filled Akaashi’s ears, but only as white noise. The sergeant had much bigger problems on his plate. In fact, he had three, and they were standing in a line in front of him as he and Bokuto sat on the street curb, wrapped tightly in shock blankets.   
  
Sano Atsumori, Harada Joji, and the Chief Inspector from Tokyo loomed over the duo, wicked grins on their faces. It seemed as though Akaashi’s problems never seemed to end. “Well, Sergeant Akaashi,” the Chief Inspector cooed. “It seems that trouble just can’t help but follow you everywhere you go.”  
  
Akaashi stared levelly at the officers, silently wanting them to just get on with whatever they really wanted to discuss with him. “Yes, it does seem that way, doesn’t it, sir?” he replied.  
  
There were a few moments of awkward silence before Sano decided to step forward. “Listen, Akaashi. The truth is, Tokyo is in shambles without you. We need you to come back.”

The raven-haired sergeant turned to his boyfriend, his eyes wide with disbelief. To his surprise, however, he wasn’t the one who delivered an answer to the Tokyo officers.

“With all due respect, Officer,” Bokuto said calmly, getting to his feet and shedding his shock blanket into Akaashi’s lap. He moved so that he was within a foot of the three police officers, his shoulders squared and his stance standoff-ish. “Sergeant Akaashi will never go back to people like you who treated him like dirt and squandered his true potential. He deserves to be here, with people that love and respect him. Understood? So you can just pack up and go home,without your precious stastic, because that’s all he is to you. Isn’t that right, Chief Inspector?”

The Chief Inspector was so blown away that someone from the small town of Kuzutari had stood up to him that he simply sat there, staring with his eyes and mouth wide open. Akaashi took this as an opportunity to get some alone time with Bokuto to recover, so he jumped to his feet, grabbed the taller officer’s hand, and pulled him away from the commotion that was the scene of the crime. 

Konosuke had been taken into custody by Tokyo police officers, Takara’s body had been airlifted and sent to a Tokyo hospital to be dealt with, and all of the other Kuzutari police officers had been sent home with a prescription of lots of rest and relaxation. Akaashi figured that he and Bokuto had given enough testimonies to last them a lifetime, and he walked hand-in-hand with his partner as they walked to Bokuto’s house.

“Koutarou…” he started softly as they were nearing the house. “What you did back there… I just want to say-”

“Save it, Keiji,” Bokuto interrupted, startling  Akaashi and silencing him. “I don’t need a thank you for telling those assholes the truth. They obviously weren’t listening to you, so I figured they would probably listen to me.”

Akaashi was taken aback by the severity of Bokuto’s voice, but instead of being wary or silenced by his boyfriend’s austerity, Akaashi began to laugh, his eyes crinkling and his mouth cracking into a wide grin. Bokuto obviously hadn’t been expecting his response, for he turned to look at the shorter man, his thick eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “‘Kaashi, what are you laughing at?”

“I’m laughing because I’ve never had anyone care so much about me, and it makes me so happy that I just have to laugh!” he explained simply, leaning over to deliver a chaste kiss to Bokuto’s cheek. 

By the time that Bokuto’s cheeks stopped being red with bashfulness, they were inside his house and sat down next to each other on Bokuto’s bed. They were both splayed out on their sides, Akaashi’s hand stroking Bokuto’s cheek gently. “You know… I think we deserve a reward for our service to Kuzutari today,” he hummed thoughtfully.

“Oho? And what would that reward be?” Bokuto leaned forward, chuckling softly and kissing Akaashi for a fleeting second. 

“I’m sure you can figure it out,” Akaashi whispered lowly, pushing Bokuto onto his back and crawling up to straddle his hips. 

A soft gasp escaped Bokuto’s lips. “Why is that we only seem to do this sort of stuff after traumatic events?” he asked with a teasing smile.

Akaashi decided that words weren’t going to be a suffice enough answer, so he simply reached back and spread Bokuto’s legs, and he began slowly rocking his hips, massaging Bokuto masterfully. He heard Bokuto’s breath hitch, but otherwise the amber-eyed man showed no sign of arousal, which made Akaashi’s primal side flare. He had to make Bokuto want him as much as he wanted Bokuto. He leaned down to kiss the tender skind of his partner’s neck, nipping occasionally at the exposed skin. “It’s my turn to make love to you, Koutarou. I have to show you how much you mean to me,” he mumbled against Bokuto’s skin, and he felt a shiver rip through his lover at the soudn of his enticing words. 

“Yes, Keiji. I’m yours,” Bokuto moaned breathily, and without any further persuasion needed, Akaashi started what he was sure was going to be the best experience of his life. 

Not wasting any time, Akaashi hooked his fingers in the waistband of Bokuto’s pants and pulled them off quickly, pulling away from Bokuto’s neck and moving down to his newly exposed thighs. He kissed the skin and nipped there gently while Bokuto stripped off his shirt. Akaashi quickly followed suit until both of them were naked except for their underwear.

“All we’re missing are roses and candles,” Bokuto teased, placing a quick kiss on Akaashi’s lips. 

“Next time, darling,” Akaashi whispered.

Akaashi peeled his underwear off, and then he hastily stripped Bokuto down. With a bright, genuine grin, he leaned down to kiss Bokuto’s taut abs. Then, he quickly reached over and grabbed the bottle of lube out of Bokuto’s bedside table, receiving a knowing grin from Bokuto in response.

“Keiji,” Bokuto panted, his voice rough and husky with both lust and love. “Please make love to me. Make me yours.”

Akaashi didn’t need to be told twice. Without hesitation, he lathered his fingers and Bokuto’s entrance in lube, and then he pushed a finger inside of his lover. Bokuto mewled in pleasure at the intrusion, and Akaashi delivered a fleeting kiss as a reward. When Bokuto began bucking his hips and grinding down on Akaashi’s middle finger, the raven-haired man added another digit. He scissored his fingers, stretching Bokuto and preparing him for the much thicker girth of Akaashi’s cock.

When he was sure that Bokuto was more than ready, Akaashi straightened up, resting on his knees, and he lined himself up with his lover’s entrance. Akaashi wasted no time in pushing into Bokuto, a wide grin spreading across his lips at the needy moan that Bokuto let out. Akaashi fell forward, his chest pressed against Bokuto’s, and he pressed his lips to the older man’s distractedly. He decided that he could no longer still his hips, so he rocked back and forth, still trying to keep somewhat kissing Bokuto. Unfortunately for Akaashi, however, Bokuto didn’t have the same idea.

The amber-eyed man pulled away from Akaashi, his pupils blown with lust, and he stroked Akaashi’s cheek with an affectionate smile. “I wanna see your beautiful eyes, Keiji,” he said roughly, yet somehow still in a tender tone.

Akaashi suddenly became overcome with an intense, burning emotion, one he could only imagine was the love he felt for Bokuto. He quickened his thrusts, and he smiled proudly as Bokuto threw his head back, moaning wantonly. He used his hands and grabbed Bokuto’s thighs, pushing his lover’s legs up so that Bokuto’s knees were touching his chest. This allowed for Akaashi to push into Bokuto at an angle that made both him and his partner cry out in ecstasy. 

Akaashi continued thrusting into Bokuto, his jaw set with determination as he stared down at the beautiful man that luckily loved him back. The sound of heavy breathing and skin slapping filled the quiet room, like music to Akaashi’s ears. The only thing that interrupted it was the low whine of Bokuto after a while, and he reached up to grab feebly at Akaashi’s sides. “Akaash-” he choked out, “I’m gonna… Fuck! I’m gonna come, oh God, oh…”

Bokuto flopped back against the bed, moaning loudly and without any censoring. He was most definitely feeling good. Akaashi smiled happily at the sight, and he nodded softly in response to Bokuto’s desperate pleas. He reached down and grabbed Bokuto’s length tightly in his hand, pumping his hand in time with his thrusts, and he was hardly surprised that it took barely any time at all for Bokuto to cry out and spill all over his own stomach.

The sight and sound of Bokuto’s orgasm was all Akaashi needed, and he moaned louder than he ever had before, keeling forward and spilling inside of Bokuto. He thrust a few more times, riding out his own high as well as Bokuto’s, and then pulled himself out of his boyfriend, collapsing on the bed beside Bokuto.  
  
“You know,” Bokuto said shakily once he had recovered a bit, “I’ve never bottomed before. That was a great first time.”

Akaashi’s eyes widened, and he stared over at Bokuto in disbelief. “That was your first time… and you didn’t think to tell me?!” he cried.

Bokuto laughed, extending his arms and pulling Akaashi up against him. “Don’t worry so much, ‘Kaashi,” he mumbled, burying his face in Akaashi’s black curls. “It only hurt a little bit, and it was definitely worth the pain. Thank you for making love to me, and thank you for fighting for Kuzutari. You’re my hero.”

~~~ Six Months Later ~~~

So much had changed in Akaashi Keiji’s life that he was hardly the same person. He had moved in with Bokuto, he had been promoted to Chief Inspector of Kuzutari (Bokuto had been promoted to Sergeant), and he was living a happy, murder-free life. With no NWA to dictate the town, things in Kuzutari were actually much smoother than they had been before.

The police service wasn’t as lazy at it had been under Konosuke’s rule, and the detectives had grown to enjoy Akaashi and his company, listening to his suggestions at crime scenes and even going as far as to offer to help with extra paperwork. The police service was a well-oiled machine, helping keep the people of Kuzutari safe and happy - the right way.

As for Konosuke and the members of the NWA, they had been transported to a prison in Tokyo, and Akaashi wondered if they were actually missed with how well the town seemed to get along in their absence. No matter the cause, Akaashi wasn’t sad that the group of murderers was gone, and even Bokuto wasn’t very upset at the loss of his father. 

_ “I lost him a long time ago,”  _ Bokuto had said with a sad smile. 

All in all, Akaashi Keiji’s life had turned around, and absolutely nothing could go wrong. Or at least that was what he told himself as he sat at his desk (he had refused to move in a separate office from the other officers) and looked out the window at the clear blue skies. Nothing was wrong in Kuzutari now that he and Bokuto were taking care of the small town.

A cacophony interrupted Akaashi’s pleasant thoughts, and he turned his head quickly towards the door, where Daichi stood with wide eyes. More alarming, however, was the state of his dress. 

His uniform was torn and completely soaked with blood.

Akaashi leapt to his feet, dashing over to his friend and steadying him before Daichi collapsed to the ground. “Daichi-san?” Akaashi said, trying to get past the glazed look in the officer’s eyes. “What happened to you?”

The brunet stared blankly at Akaashi for a minute or two, until he finally came to his senses. “There’s been a murder. Y-you… B-Bokuto…”

Akaashi didn’t need to hear any more. He gently lead Daichi to his desk, sitting the older officer down in his chair and fetching him a glass of water. “Stay here until you’re feeling better and then take the rest of the day off. Take time to wash your uniform and your mind, alright? I don’t want to see you back here until you’re feeling 20 times better, understood?”

Daichi nodded numbly, and Akaashi dashed to swipe his coat off of the back of his chair. In a bellowing voice that he had learned from Bokuto, he cried, “Koutarou!! We have a murder to solve!!”

And with that, the duo exited the office, ready to tackle whatever was thrown at them. Akaashi’s life was finally complete.

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr || bokutotrash.tumblr.com


End file.
